Melody of the Wanderers
by AlphaDelta1001
Summary: When one song ends, another begins. At the Valley of the End, Naruto makes the decision to leave Konohagakure, a decision that will change his life forever. At the same time, he meets the most unlikely companion.
1. Prologue

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Prologue_

_**Flashback…**_

_**The Valley of the End…**_

_Naruto and Sasuke stood, glaring killing intent across at each other from under the shadows of the great statues of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, bloodied, battered and bruised. They were both slumped over and exhausted, bearing wounds and injuries that would have rendered a normal shinobi unconscious or dead. However, their sheer will-power and determination kept them conscious, stretching their abilities and stamina to the limit. _

_The grand landmark they stood before, served as the grounds for their greatest and toughest battle yet, and from the conditions of the canyons around them, the statues, and from the states of two combatants themselves, the two Genin have really been giving it their all. With Naruto standing beside the First Hokage and Sasuke standing alongside Madara, they both looked as though they had just endured the worst kinds of torture._

_Yet still, they remained, standing, glaring defiantly at one another, and bleeding all over the place._

_Naruto had cut himself off from the Kyuubi's chakra and was now standing under his own power, a gaping hole in his chest from where Sasuke had hit him with his final chidori, and was quickly healing itself. Sasuke on the other hand, looked as though his stomach had just been hit by a mini vortex; the skin burned and torn away with muscle showing underneath, and was bleeding gallons. The Rasengan that had hit him just barely managed to get through, in Naruto's last ditch effort to take him down._

_Both their final attacks had been devastating on the two young shinobi, and now, no longer using the chakra provided by the Cursed Seal Level 2 or the Kyuubi's One-Tailed Cloak, they stood as equals._

_Sasuke hunched over and coughed out blood, staggering back a bit, with Naruto also retching on his own fluids. After heaving on air and all sorts of crap, they then looked back up at one another, resuming the staring contest._

_At first, when they felt small, cold drops of water hit their faces, they just shrugged it off as spray from the waterfall beside them. However, those single drops of water soon transformed into a massive downpour, and began soaking them from head to toe. Disregarded by either of them, a dark storm pulled in overhead, and in its effort to cleanse the battlefield, began washing away their split blood._

_As it started to rain, Sasuke's headband lost slack and fell from his forehead._

_It hit the ground with a loud clang and a large diagonal gash carved across it. The boy ignored it, and left it forgotten in the mud._

_Sasuke snarled as he stared back at his equally determined friend, who was glaring defiantly back at him._

"_Why… Naruto…" Sasuke hissed, staggering forward, and unintentionally stepping on his headband, crunching it between his foot and the earth. "Why do you stand in my way? Tell me… TELL ME WHY?"_

_Naruto coughed out some, a spray of blood patterning the ground in front of him, before smiling weakly up towards the Uchiha._

_They were both on their last legs, and they weren't feeling so good. But despite the pain, they still managed to keep a clear head._

"_Because… we're friends…" Naruto replied simply, his voice hoarse from the internal damages he had suffered. "I thought I made it… perfectly clear to you… that I was going to bring you back, no matter what. I made a promise… to Sakura-chan and to everyone else… and I intend to keep it…"_

_The shaken Uchiha growled at that statement. To him, that didn't seem like a good enough reason. It was something he couldn't bring himself to understand. All it did was make him angrier and more eager on stomping on his friend's good intentions. With whatever strength he could spare, he converted all of his pent up rage into words, seeing as he was no longer able to turn them into fists._

_This was plainly evident from the results of their battle._

"_Don't you understand how much this means to me?" Sasuke roared, his body trembling as he let loose. "I need to do this! Not for you, not for Sakura, not for Kakashi, or anyone else! This doesn't concern any of you! This is between me… and HIM!"_

_Naruto flinched at his words._

"_You may have made a promise to Sakura, to yourself, and to the rest of your friends to bring me back, but I swore to myself years ago that one day… I would kill my brother, for everything he has done to me and my family. I will kill him; if not to avenge my mum and dad, but to satisfy my own soul!" Sasuke clutched his chest, while at the same time, pressing his arm against the spiral wound in his stomach, that was still bleeding and shooting bolts of pain through his body. "It's not something you can reason with! It has nothing to do with our shared history, our friendship, or our team! I'm driven by my inability to forgive him! My soul is screaming at me, demanding… __**begging**__ me to kill him! It's screaming at me so much it hurts!"_

_The blonde watched as the Uchiha staggered forward some more, till he was standing on the very edge of the lake. His blood mixed in with the water, as it was hammered away by the pouring rain. Through blood, rain and tears, Sasuke glared across at his friend, who was doing nothing but listening._

"_The losses and pain I have suffered, and my hatred for him, are more then enough to keep me going," Sasuke stated, straightening up, with the downpour streaming down his face. "Besides… this is my problem… you should stay out of it…"_

_Naruto knew Sasuke was referring to his older brother, his closest kin, who butchered his entire family and clan. It was a fact that the jinchuriki was well aware of, but of course, not knowing what it was like to lose a family, let alone have much of one to begin with, made him feel more useless in his position, as he was unable to convince his friend otherwise. True, Naruto didn't understand what it was like to lose something so close to him, and Sasuke was making it absolutely clear that he wasn't going to stop, no matter what he said. However, the blonde did understand one thing…_

"_You really need this… don't you?" Naruto muttered, closing his eyes and lowering his head._

_Sasuke simply glared at him, blinking when he suddenly saw his opponent's shoulders drop and head lower._

_Clutching the wound in his chest, Naruto's eyes became overshadowed._

"_Okay…I get the picture now, Sasuke," the Genin murmured, slumping a bit when he felt some of his strength leave him. "I mean… I don't completely understand what you're going through… but… I can __**hear**__ what you're saying… loud and clear…"_

_The Uchiha remained quiet, as he listened with open ears to what the boy was saying. Even though they had both passed the point of ever trying to understand each other in this situation, this was something he felt he needed to hear. The usually loud-mouthed blonde was making that clear by the way he was talking._

"_But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and watch either," Naruto stated, scowling back up towards the raven haired ninja. "Your brother is after me for the burden I carry, not just you… and that's something I can't let you carry by yourself…"_

_Naruto tried his best to comprehend what Sasuke was going through, and he did this while speaking at the same time, piecing together his next few words appropriately, little by little. With his teammate's pain, as well as Naruto's heavy burden, from looking at what they had in common, it all seemed to revolve around the same person; Itachi Uchiha._

_However, with what Naruto had to say, he wasn't at all sure if it was going to get through to Sasuke. But, if it was to keep them both alive, as well as preserve whatever bond they still shared between each other, then he was going to pull out whatever cards he had left in order to better his chances of fulfilling his promise to Sakura._

"_I made a promise… to bring you back, even if I had to break your arms and legs to do it," Naruto smiled slightly, earning a raised eyebrow from his opponent. "But… you're making fulfilling my promise… very difficult for me…"_

_Sasuke frowned, wondering where he was going with this. Eventually, Naruto got straight to the point of the matter, concluding his small speech with a light chuckle, and stepping aside. Above the pain, the blonde came up with the only sensible answer he could think of._

_He couldn't beat his friend…_

_He couldn't convince him to return to Konoha…_

_So he came up with the next best alternative…_

"_Alright then… __**go**__…"_

"_What?"_

"_I won't stop you," Naruto panted, taking a few steps back with a smirk, making room for Sasuke to walk through, as behind him was the only path out of the valley, and he would have to get through him to get to it._

_The spiky haired jinchuriki wasn't going to stand in his way though, not now. "Heck, I'll give you a ten minute head start. Go on… before I change my mind…"_

_Sasuke just stood where he was, staring baffled at the now reluctant, yet seemingly willing shinobi and his good natured acceptance of the situation. Naruto waved a hand at him in feigned frustration._

"_What are you waiting for? A personal escort? Get out of here…"_

_Still suspicious as to Naruto's true motives, Sasuke slowly, but surely, began trudging across the lake. The moment he reached the other side, he staggered onto shore and past the blonde, who simply turned his back on him and allowed him through._

_When the Uchiha passed him, he stopped and spared a glance back, to see Naruto smirking as he stared off in a different direction, not looking him in the eyes._

"_What's your game, dobe?"_

"_Hmm…"_

"_You're not __**just**__ going to let me go… I know it…"_

"_What? I can't stop you, and you sure as hell can't stop me," Naruto glanced over his right shoulder, at the boy who was glaring back at him. Both their eyes showed their exhaustion, and that neither one of them were backing down. "That's why… I'm going to give you a chance…"_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_I can see that you need this… more then anything else, and you're going to stop at nothing to accomplish your goal. Even if I was to drag you back, you would just run away again, on crutches if you had to," Naruto murmured, turning full-body towards the Uchiha, who also turned towards him, not willing to take a sneak attack if the blonde were to pull a fast one on him. "Hell, I'm not going to stop trying to accomplish my goal. That's why I'm letting you go… so that once you succeed in killing your brother… I can come after you then… and fulfill my promise, while letting you accomplish yours…"_

_Naruto and Sasuke just stared at each other through the rain, ignoring everything else around them. As they glared at one another, the blonde shrugged his shoulders and gestured the Uchiha to go on his way, while staggering back into a puddle behind him._

"_Just promise me when you're done… we will meet up with each other and settle this thing once and for all…" Naruto said, smirking. "And when we do meet again, I __**will**__ beat you… and I __**will**__ bring you back to Konoha…"_

_For a minute or so, the pair stood in silence. After considering his friend's words, as well as his reasoning over a time span of a minute, Sasuke just smirked as well, and turned his head, looking away while clutching his wound, just as his friend was._

"_You're such an idiot," Sasuke mused. With that said, he turned heel and began to walk away, shaking his head. "Just get stronger… would yah… so you won't bore me next time…"_

"_Why don't __**you**_ _get stronger teme, so that we can face each other fair and square… no Kyuubi or Cursed Seal involved…"_

_Sasuke just smiled and kept on walking, his footsteps sloshing in mud and his blood dripping down the join it, only to be washed away. Just before he was out of ear shot, and just before he disappeared into the mists beyond the rain, Naruto was able to hear one last thing from the Uchiha._

"_Thanks…"_

_With that, Sasuke's silhouette disappeared into the dark of the rain, leaving only Naruto standing in the middle of their battlefield. Letting out a sigh, the blonde staggered back and slumped up against the side of the giant statue of the First Hokage. The fatigue finally hitting him, he looked up towards the sky, the water cascading down his face as it hit him over and over again._

_As he stood there, he began rethinking his decision to let Sasuke go, wondering whether it was a good one or a bad one. After a few seconds of deliberation, he settled on in-between, and allowed a small smile to cross his face. Of course, there was more to his plan then what he had let on earlier, and though he had his doubts, he reasoned with himself that he needed this more then ever._

_His resolve was strengthened by his promise._

'_The others may be pissed at me for letting him go…' Naruto picked himself off of the stone surface of the First__Hoka__. When he did, he reached up and yanked off his headband. Tying it at the end, he then pulled out a piece of paper and thumbed about for a pencil._

_When he couldn't find a pencil or pen, he instead settled with his own blood, dabbing it on his finger and writing on it as best as he could in the rain. Satisfied with the few words he wrote on it, he then placed the headband underneath the statue of Hashirama Senju, and as fast as he could, staggered out of the area._

_Within minutes, like Sasuke, he left the valley and everything else behind him._

_All the while, a smile remained plastered on his face._

"_It's about time… I walked on my own two feet, for once in my life…"_

_

* * *

_

_When Kakashi eventually arrived on the scene about twenty minutes later, all he found to his dismay was a trail of scent that ended, and both Naruto and Sasuke's headbands placed conspicuously here and there beside the great lake. The moment he reached the metaphorical dead-end, he couldn't find either of his students anywhere in sight, and his spirits fell at that revelation._

_When he pulled the first forehead protector from the mud and brushed the dirt away, he immediately recognized it to be Sasuke's._

_Looking at it, he deduced right then and there that the Uchiha was gone for good, as indicated by the gash across the Hidden Leaf symbol. This further caused any hope he had for the boy to plummet._

_However, when he went over to pluck Naruto's hitai-ate from the wall, he was surprised when a little piece of paper fell out._

_Picking it up off of the soaked floor that was still being hammered away by rain, the silver haired Jonin looked down at it, with Pakkun blinking up at him curiously as the man unfolded the note and read it._

"_Well, what does it say, Kakashi?" the little dog asked curiously._

_Kakashi blinked incredulously, his eyes scanning over the five, simple, yet confidently, written words on the paper._

"_**I'll be back for this…"**_

_The Jonin sighed in relief, knowing his two students were still alive. But with both of them gone he didn't know what to think beyond that. A mixture of emotions filled him; the disappointment at losing Sasuke to Orochimaru, which was replaced by relief that Naruto was still alive and walking. This was then followed by the mixed feeling of dread and delight that both of his students were alive, but nowhere to be seen._

_The only clear thought that crossed his mind however, was the knowledge that his most unpredictable student, Naruto, was gone as well, but had the definite intention of returning some time in the future, and that was something he knew his knucklehead of a student would do._

_How long he would be gone, Kakashi wasn't sure._

_However, he knew Naruto had a plan. If this was a part of it, he would probably be seeing him sooner then he thought._

'_I bet you will…' Kakashi thought, chuckling._

"_Well?" Pakkun pressured his master for an answer._

_The silver haired Jonin, folding up the piece of paper, pocketing it, and with both head-bands in hand, eye-smiled down at his summon._

"_Come on. We've got a report to make…"_

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ It's a story I'm experimenting with and am hoping will go well. Hope you enjoyed the prologue._


	2. Where To?

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Where To_

_**Several Miles Away…**_

_**That very next day…**_

The skies had cleared, and the rain finally stopped, leaving the forests and valleys as soggy marshes and swamps. Though this did not deter the shinobi who were moving about and on missions, it was still a bit of an inconvenience for those resting outdoors. As it turns out, the entire area spanning close to the borders of the _Land of Fire_ and at the _Valley of the End_, suffered heavy downpours, meaning all scents that were hanging in the air previously had been washed away in the wake of the storm.

It was this result that Naruto had been hoping for, as well as dreading. For one, he didn't want to be found by anyone who had been sent out to look for him. He was certain that Kakashi would have been one of the first ones on the battlefield where he and Sasuke had fought, and there was a fifty-fifty chance that he would either return to Konohagakure, or widen his search for the both of them.

The former Genin of Konoha had double-backed a bit to throw off any pursuers, and was now currently hiding in the thick forests some ways out of the _Valley of the End_. He remained calm, and allowed himself whatever time he needed to rest and recover.

With Kyuubi running damage control, Naruto sat back against the tree, relieved that no trouble has managed to come his way at this point.

However, despite his relief, he was still peeved by the fact that he was soaking wet from the rain, and sitting was in the mud with damp undershorts. In case he had to make a quick get away, he didn't have much of a choice but to bear with it for the time being.

Groaning, the boy slumped up more against the hardwood surface and glared up towards the canopy, where the lights of the sun were peaking through, and causing bright rays to fall onto him. Shielding his eyes, he then shuffled away, moving back into the shadows of the tree so as to not get bombarded by the annoying beams of light.

Reaching back into his pouch, he rummaged around for a sealing scroll where he had packed his food. However, he discovered to his annoyance that his pouch was completely empty.

Unhooking it from his back, he held it out in front of him and attempted to shake whatever contents was in it out. However, all that came out was a single kunai, a couple of paper bombs and a strand of wire. Seeing nothing else come out, he furrowed his brow and threw the pouch away, leaning back against the tree with everything he had on him lying on his lap.

"That's right…" Naruto murmured. _"When Sasuke-teme tackled me off of the cliff, my pouch opened and everything spilled out… now I've got nothing…"_

The blonde instantly knew that if he was to survive out here, then he was going to have to make do with whatever he had and forage. He was hoping to have at least had some other materials to spare, but as it turns out, everything he had and was going to use to survive and train for the next couple of years, were the clothes on his back, and the half a dozen ninja items he had right in front of him.

Like hell he was going to die out here.

That would be pathetic.

Shaking his head, he picked up the one kunai he had and sheathed it into his leg holster, before pocketed the wire and explosive tags. With that done, he pulled himself to his feet and dusted himself down in an attempt to rid himself of the gunk on his clothes, but only managed to smear it more down his pants.

"_Screw dying," _Naruto thought, looking around with a stoic expression. If the dark outline and bags under his eyes were any indication, he hadn't slept all night, and was exhausted. Despite this, he remained vigilant. _"I took this road, so there is no way I'm turning back. If I have a hope in hell of surviving out here, I'll need weapons and supplies." _Naruto thought hard about where he should go to beg, borrow, purchase or steal weapons.

He wasn't going back to Konoha to make a supply run. The guards at the gates would probably arrest him on sight, and send him to prison for a long time if they didn't drag his ungrateful behind up to the Hokage's Office. That is of course, if word around Konoha spread as quickly as it did. Gossip was his worst enemy here.

He didn't know of any nearby or friendly villages who sold the goods he was looking for. Additionally, he wasn't even sure if he had the money to spend if he did stumble upon a supply shop. Furthermore, any friendly outposts of the Hidden Leaf out here would be too risky to approach. Quite frankly, his bargaining skills sucked, and sneaking in was an even worse idea if he was stealing from Jonin level shinobi. A bright headlight like him would be spotted instantly.

Okay, so far: Konoha, local villages, and outposts were crossed off the list.

Naruto rattled his brain for an answer.

"_I could scavenge the battlefields where Shikamaru and the others fought those weirdoes. They must have been throwing stuff at each other, there's bound to be a ton of weapons lying around…"_

Stretching out, Naruto then broke out into a run, quickly taking to the trees, and beginning to make his way out to where Lee, Shikamaru and his other friends had fought.

As he skipped from branch to branch, he spared a long moment of thought, about whether his friends had survived their battles against Orochimaru's freak show. Out of all of them, he was certain Neji and Kiba would have done well, but Choji and Shikamaru, needless to say, the Genin had his doubts about them. He just prayed they were alive and well.

Worrying about this idea most of the way there, he eventually cleared his mind of all thought when he entered the vicinity of the valley where he and Lee had fought that bone freak.

Well, to call it a valley now was a bit of an overstatement. What best described the field from the edge Naruto was standing on was nothing short of a small desert, with a wall of collapsed trees clustered around the entire perimeter, and right in the middle of it all, a forest of bones towering over ten stories into the air. The white columns practically defined the entire area above the sand, a sight Naruto came to conclude as the result of an incredible battle.

"_Gaara must have been here to help Lee," _Naruto whistled and scratched his head. _"I'm guessing their opponent was really tough for Gaara to use this much sand…"_

Shrugging off his awe, he marched forward, and decided to investigate the valley of bones. However, when he reached the edge of the white forest of solid columns, he found maneuvering through it was a lot tougher then he first thought, and opted to go around instead. While he did, he unexpectedly spotted a figure sitting at the top of one of the colossal spires, a bone drill in hand and holding his position with the behavior of a statue.

It came as a bit of a shock when Naruto saw he was protruding from one of the giant bones, not to mention the fact that he was the very same guy that he and Lee had fought earlier.

"Damn…" Naruto murmured, watching as the petrified man did _nothing_. He noticed that there was dried blood coming out of his mouth. _"They sure did a number on that guy. Or he did a number on himself…"_

Either way, judging from the way the white haired ninja hung suspended several stories above the ground, motionless, told Naruto one thing; that he was dead and done.

The blonde took a moment to metaphorically mark the area, and entitled it the _Forest of Bones _for future reference_._ In case he needed to double-back again, he would use this as his rallying point.

Seeing no other dead bodies, the Genin assumed that Lee made it out okay, and continued on into the forest on the other side of the valley. He had left Shikamaru a few miles back when he raced after the bone-guy carrying Sasuke in that coffin. The chase had led Naruto some distance from the others, and retracing his steps in his head, it made it easier for him to make his way back to the next break-off point where the team last split.

Kiba had taken off on another juncture some ways before Shikamaru fought that red head, so Naruto had no clue as to where the fight had taken the Inuzuka and that cross-dressing weirdo. Instead of dwelling on it and distracting himself from his task, Naruto simply focused on his next objective and continued on, narrowly missing getting clothes-lined by another low-hanging branch as he sailed through the trees at medium speed.

He looked about as he moved along, trying to spot any signs of a threat, ambush or alike. From the lack of disturbances in the upper canopy, and judging from the condition of the trees this far out from where the bone-guy literally redefined the meaning of _overkill_, it was safe to say that a clean-up crew had already come through here a couple hours before, probably to pick up the retrieval team.

The lack of Konoha shinobi meant that Naruto managed to swoop in at just the right time, so he didn't have to worry about being tracked or watched.

Regardless, he kept an extra eye out for traps. It's what nearly got him before, when he and the team were going after Sasuke and those four Sound Ninja, and they strung explosives using the shadows to hide the wire. If it hadn't been for Shikamaru, he would have ended up an unscheduled Sunday Roast for his teammates.

Unfortunately for Naruto, having dove back into careful thought at a crucial juncture missed an unexpected, sudden fact.

He was no longer within a canopy.

He let out a yell of surprise when his feet connected with nothing and suddenly felt himself falling from the treetops just two miles away from the _Forest of Bones_.

Barreling through the air, the blonde acted quickly and formed his trademark hand seal while in mid-fall, taking aim.

"Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A bellowing cloud shot up from the ground as a platoon's worth of copies piled themselves into a massive heap right beneath the original. A split second later, Naruto crash-landed into the mountain of bodies after falling more then twenty stories.

After using his doppelgangers to cushion his fall, he dispelled them, and returned to ground level, where he crouched and looked around to see what had happened.

As it turned out, he had exited the forest canopy of the surrounding woods, and had literally leapt through the air where the next trees should have been. However, upon inspecting the problem, he saw that a good section of the entire forest over a wide spread area had literally been cut down. Massive trees lay scattered everywhere, with their trunk bases still lodged into the ground. A lot of the trees weren't even in wholes; they were all sliced to pieces. The sight had Naruto's eyes widen a bit in shock, before he decided to investigate the area further.

Rising to his feet, he marched over to where a tree stump sat proudly and ran his finger over the rings of the base. After running it through with his touch alone, he then raised his digits to his eyes and grinded the saw-dust between his fingers, and watched it sprinkle to the ground.

"_Clean cuts… not perfectly straight… they're all at different angles…" _Naruto thought, looking around at the scattered logs and branches. _"And all of this occurred in rapid succession. It must have been one powerful technique to have leveled an entire forest. Sucks to be the person on the receiving end."_

Flicking the dust from his fingers, Naruto decided to hike the journey across the field of fallen trees to the other side.

When he ultimately got to a high point, he was able to see the full extent of the damage to the woods. The collapsed trees that littered the floor for over a mile were so huge that clambering over them would be near impossible. These were all redwoods, and they certainly didn't grow in small sizes.

Scaling log after log, and pushing aside whatever he could, Naruto slowly lumbered across the landscape to the other side. Along the way, he tried to find anything lying around that could be useful, like a spent kunai or something. However, all he found was logs and firewood, as well as tree branches cut down to fine bite-size pieces. It was a real mess.

Mother Nature was going to be pissed if she passed through here one day and found all this lying around.

As he descended back to ground after clambering over a huge tree still intact, his foot unexpectedly scraped against something hollow, which he heard grind underneath his sandal. Stepping back in surprise, the blonde bent over and picked it up. Dusting sawdust off of it and using his jacket to wipe it clean of mud; he blinked in surprise when he saw that it was a flute.

Weighing it in his hand, he then looked around. Since it was covered in mud, it must have been here for a while, and couldn't have been dropped too recently.

In the end, as his eyes looked over the walls of fallen trees, he spotted something peculiar. Hiding behind a row of bushes, most likely leaves from a fallen tree branch, he saw a hand sticking out.

"_Wait… a hand?"_

Alarmed at the sight and his sense of awareness leading him to the conclusion that someone was trapped, the blonde leapt to his feet and rushed over.

Ripping away the shrubbery and debris, he dug his way through to whoever was buried.

He was astounded when he saw that it was the red haired girl Shikamaru had fought and, from the state of her, won. Naruto stepped back a little to look her over, and in all honesty, it wasn't a pretty sight.

She was wedged between two fallen trees, almost as though she was crushed. She was unconscious and laying on her back, her hair freed from that gauze cap she wore when he first saw her. Sprawled out and motionless, she almost looked as though she was asleep, but judging from the weight on top of her, Naruto knew better.

Frowning, he reached out and placed his hand against her cheek. Even though she had been an enemy, Naruto had this strange disposition and outlook towards other ninja whom he fought and deemed as worthy adversaries. Zabuza and Haku had been two such shinobi whom he enjoyed fighting, and truthfully, really liked.

Even though he didn't know this girl, he knew she must have been really strong to result in this.

"…"

Something was off though.

When people were dead for more then twenty-four hours, their blood would have run cold.

It was a fact Naruto was well aware of.

Dead people weren't warm.

Blinking, Naruto placed two fingers against her neck and checked for life-signs. He was visibly shocked when he felt a pulse, and was even more surprised when the girl suddenly coughed and began breathing again. Now, this meant only two things to him.

Either she managed to bring herself back to life through sheer will power, or she had survived and had been plying possum this entire time.

He figured it was the latter.

Not wanting to leave her here to suffer or watch her for that matter, Naruto quickly hopped to his feet and began pushing against the tree trunk crushing her. Through brute force alone, he managed to roll it off of her slightly. Needing extra leverage though, he called upon the aid of several shadow clones, and working as a team, managed to pick the whole tree up and throw it off of the girl. At the same time, the clones pulled her out of the wedge.

Removing his jacket, Naruto used it as a makeshift pillow, and placed the girls head on it as he laid her down, making her comfortable. She started coughing again, blood seeping out of the side of her mouth. Kneeling beside her, he began inspecting the damages, especially the most serious ones.

The blood leaking from her mouth meant internal bleeding, and that was never a good thing. The blonde suspected cracked ribs and some lung damage from the way she was breathing. There was way too much pressure. Furthermore, both her legs were busted; a terrible wound for a ninja to have. The way they were twisted and bent, he knew there were broken bones.

Looking around, Naruto quickly ran over to some fallen branches and, securing the strongest he could, began fastening them into splints to use on her legs. Using his kunai to cut the stick down to size, he created a couple of leg braces. With his shirt, he ripped it into several gauze strips and wrapped them tightly around her legs with the splints, putting them as straight as possible. It was a grueling task with all the blood, but he managed.

While he was finishing bandaging her legs, he was unaware that the red head before him was regaining consciousness. The pain alone brought her around, and when her vision cleared and she became aware of her own existence, her eyes blinked open completely and her throat let out a stifled groan. Looking down, she saw a stranger working on her limbs, tightening them with gauze, or some sort of binds.

It was this sight that really woke her up.

Instincts controlling her movements, she quickly reached out for a blunt object of some sorts. Grabbing a rock, she threw it at the blonde, nailing him in the head with the primitive projectile. Naruto was hit at almost point blank by the piece of earth, and staggered away in surprise. After stumbling, he glared over at the girl and rubbed the newly formed bruise on his temple.

"Hey!"

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Tayuya roared, feeling around for something else to throw as she crawled away in a hurried and clumsy fashion. Her hand landing on another rock, she threw that at him, followed by a stick. The Genin at her feet dodged the two thrown objects, and watched as the girl began struggling away once again.

She didn't get far though, and suddenly broke into a coughing fit.

Keeling over to her right, the red head retched and coughed out more blood; a rather unappealing sight none to say the least.

Panting, Tayuya glared up at the boy, who had been tending to her legs, and was just kneeling several feet away from her, topless and looking down-right tired. He just stared emotionlessly at her, while she gave him the forth-degree glare, a step up above a third. Above all her physical pain, she was incredibly pissed and aggressive towards whom she deemed as an enemy, but was only trying to help her.

However, she didn't know that.

"W-Who the fuck are you?" Tayuya growled. "What the hell are you doing?"

Naruto blinked, and then gestured down at her legs. When she looked at them, she discovered the nauseating sight of both her broken and twisted limbs staring back at her. It didn't help that they were cut up as well, and that she felt like shit.

"Your legs are busted, I'm fixing them," Naruto stated.

Tayuya coughed again, clenching her eyes shut to bite back at the pain racking at her body, before seething in the boy's direction once again.

"Wait… I remember you…" she breathed, looking him over. "You're that blonde, loud-mouthed, dumb-ass that went screaming passed me after Kimimaro and your friend."

"Bingo," Naruto replied, before moving back over to her to finish slinging up her legs. However, he saw her scoot away, and looked up in time to see her throw a clump of dirt at him. He got smacked in the face by the piece of dirt, and fell back at the force of the throw, and the surprise that came with it. Wiping the mud out from his eyes, he glared up at the girl. "Ow! DAMMIT! Stop throwing shit!"

"Didn't I tell you to get away from me, you dumb-fuck?" Tayuya shouted, propping herself up on her arms as she bared her teeth at him. "You limp-dicked, sack of shit, I'm warning you! Touch me again, and I'll gut you like the self-righteous, anal excrement that you are!" She didn't get anything else out when she started coughing up more blood.

Needless to say, Naruto had never been so insulted in his life. True he had run into this woman twice before, but this was the first real time he was meeting her up close, face-to-face, one on one. He simply shook his head at the strings of profanity flying from her mouth, some of which he had never heard before.

"_What a cheerful person," _Naruto mused to himself. _"She gives vulgarity a new name…"_

Ignoring her, he shuffled over and took her leg, only to receive another outburst from her. Instead of a rock being thrown, she instead lunged at him with a blunt object. Reacting quickly, he grabbed her arm and then the scruff of her collar, yanking her towards him, and glaring at her nose-to-nose. Tayuya panted heavily as she looked him in his cold, blue eyes, while he glared back into her amber ones.

"Knock it off," Naruto hissed, lowering her arm and whatever it was she was attempting to 'gut him' with. Looking at it, he saw that it was a sharp stone. He simply gave it a shrug of indifference, took it from her hand, and threw it into the bushes. "Look, I'm just trying to help you."

"Bullshit! Like you'd ever help me!" Tayuya snapped. The blonde ignored the spite in her voice, and went on to finish splinting her legs. Despite her unwillingness to allow him to help, as well as her useless thrashing and attempted kicking, he allowed his hands to work unhindered.

After tightening the gauze and making sure they were secure, he nodded at the completion of his task, before sitting back down onto the ground, exhausted. Relaxing a bit, he looked at the red-head once again, seeing her still glaring at him defiantly, while propped up on her elbows to give her a better view of her target.

"It's not in my nature to let a complete stranger, even a former enemy, just die right in front of me," Naruto stated when his eyes met hers. "I wouldn't be able to sleep right if I let that happen. I'm not made of stone…"

Tayuya furrowed her brow at him. "I don't believe you…"

"Really," the blonde replied, stretching his neck a bit to loosen the tension. "Then why are you still alive?"

"Hell if I know," the red head shrugged.

Naruto looked over at the tree that had been pinning her against the other, and studied it. Judging from its size, the girl in front of him would have most definitely been crushed and killed by the collapsing spire of leaves and branches. If it hadn't been for a few contributing factors, she wouldn't have been so lucky.

"In all good conscience, you shouldn't even be alive right now." Naruto gestured her attention over to the area that could have easily been her tomb. "You're lucky the tree's branches prevented the trunk from rolling right over you…"

"Yeah, and instead of fucking squashing me like a bug, it turned me into half a tube of toothpaste," Tayuya grumbled, pointing at her legs. "LOOK AT ME! I can't fucking walk! Forget limping, I can't even crawl, and I'm in fucking agony! GOD DAMMIT!"

"Hey, stop shouting…"

"Fuck you, cock-sucker. I can shout and curse all I want! If Kami can sit high up on his cloud, watching, and scratching his nuts and not giving a shit, you can follow his example!"

She suddenly leaned over and coughed again, splattering more blood onto the ground. Naruto saw how much more serious her condition really was and crawled closer to her, watching her sit back up and wipe her mouth clean. Breathing in and out deeply, though it was a bit irregular, Tayuya still mustered up the strength and energy to swear some more.

"Fuck me, I can't breathe right…"

Naruto scooted closer and checked on her more closely. While she tried to push him away, he simply took her by the shoulders and, with his free hand, pressed it against her chest. Though her initial response was to try and curse him out, she instead blushed when his hands came dangerously close to her modesty, and she clamped her mouth shut. She watched as he began counting her ribs with his thumb.

"Hey, you pervert, what the hell do you think you a-FUUUCKK!" Tayuya shouted when his thumb clicked against one of her ribs, and she grabbed him by the shoulders, her head reeling back in pain. Naruto took note of her reaction, before moving lower, feeling that a couple more of her ribs were a bit out of place.

Tayuya hissed as she bit back the pain. "GOD, CUNT-FUCKING, FRIED DICK ON A STICK! THAT FUCKING HURTS YOU FUCK-TARD!" Well, all the pain she did hold back. The red-head cursed louder then she ever had in her entire life, while at the same time, trying to bring her fist up to wallop the blonde. However, she was unable to lift her arm higher then her shoulders, since her sides were sending bolts of pain through her, and settled for just mouthing off at him. "SHIT PILE ON FIRE! JUST KILL ME ALREADY!"

"Stop swearing. Geez, and for the last time, I'm not going to kill you," Naruto snapped back in a calm voice, before looking back towards her chest to analyze the damage. "I'm no doctor, but from what I've experienced in the past and from what I can feel, you've got seven damaged ribs: three broken and four cracked. Your lungs have suffered quite a bit from the strain as well, since the broken ribs are applying unwarranted pressure on them. You've got internal bleeding as a result."

"Well, hardy-fucking-har! Didn't the sight of me coughing up half of my bodily fluids tell you that?" Tayuya growled, earning an annoyed glare from Naruto, who sat back down onto the ground and bit his thumb in thought.

"This will be a big problem for you if I don't fix it. I can't do much about your broken legs, but… I might be able to help with the internal bleeding…"

"Oh please. I've seen you in action when you were with that lazy-slacker and that brat with the dog," Tayuya shook her head, giving the boy a disapproving stare. "You're a fucking terrible shinobi, you have awful sense of awareness, and you have a reaction time slower then a garden snail's. Quite frankly, you're a fucking retard. I don't even know why you were with those useless trash bags to begin with."

Naruto just glared at her. He repeated. _Never_ in his life had he ever been this insulted. Even when he was doing something he felt was right, and he was definitely certain it was the right thing to do, he was still getting burned for it. This constant verbal abuse must be payback from all his years of tormenting the villagers of Konohagakure with his pranks. Hooza! The villagers' prayers have been answered! First Kami drops an impossible mission on top of his head, and next he drops _**her**_ down on top of him.

Despite the insults he had just received, he couldn't help but muse in his head on the probable answer as to how she was still alive.

"_Kami must have kicked her out of heaven because she wouldn't shut up and stop swearing, and sent her back down to earth as punishment." _His mouth visibly twitched, but he reframed from smiling.

Pushing aside her insults, as well as her bonus comments towards his friends, he released her from his grip and performed a hand-seal.

"I may suck as a shinobi, but there is one thing you don't know about me," Naruto explained, earning a raised eyebrow from the girl. The blonde circumvented his entire chakra system for something, before eventually redirecting it from his center, to his throat. If there was anything Kakashi taught him, it was superb chakra control.

After concentrating his chakra at a certain point, he opened his eyes and looked down at the red head. "I'm Konoha's most unpredictable ninja…"

Before Tayuya could respond to that, Naruto suddenly took her by the shoulders and swooped in, locking lips with her. The shock caused the girl's eyes to widen, while the blonde's mouth over hers muffled her shriek of surprise. For the next minute or so, the jinchuriki kept his lips planted against hers as he slowly breathed into her, as if performing poor CPR. Tayuya was too deep in bewilderment to really do anything, and simply went with it.

It felt strange to her. It was her first kiss to no surprise, and was with someone who she thought had no experience whatsoever, and a 'dick-head' at that. As she relaxed against him, she felt warmth flood her body and a mild tingling sensation tickle her chest. It felt good. It felt _**really**_ good. She closed her eyes and moaned, her cheeks flushing red as she felt the boy move in closer.

That was, until, her mind registered to the fact who was locking lips with her.

Jumping back into reality, Tayuya's eyes flew open and she slapped him, _**hard**_.

As a result, Naruto was sent falling to the floor, while the red head leaned away and spat on the ground; her blood mingling with her saliva. After brushing away at her lips to get rid of whatever 'cooties' he may have given her, she turned on him and shouted angrily.

"OYE! YOU PERVERTED ANAL-PUSS! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" she roared, scaring a few birds out of a nearby tree, who fled the scene, chirping loudly. "If you wanted a grope that badly, go feel up a stripper at a local whore house! DON'T USE ME AS COMPENSATION, SHIT-FOR-BRAINS!"

Pushing himself back up into a seating position, Naruto looked up at the girl through a stoic expression, while rubbing the hand-shaped imprint in his cheek. He spared her no emotional response, and simply pointed towards her chest.

"How's your breathing?"

"What the fuck do you mean, _'how's your breathing'_? Are you… an… idiot…?" Tayuya paused in mid-sentence, suddenly feeling a difference in her body when her mind came around. Pointedly, she practiced some breathing techniques, inhaling and exhaling, deeply and slowly, as well as some quick huffs. She then stretched her arms out as well, and didn't need to put any effort into doing so whatsoever. When she tasted for blood in her mouth, she found nothing, just remnants of a tangy taste. "M-My lungs. I-I can breathe…"

"Yeah… I hoped so," Naruto cleared his throat, catching the red head's attention. She watched him cough out, and a wisp of wind chakra suddenly escaped his lips, mingling with a strange, red chakra. After watching the strand of chakra dissipate into nothingness, Tayuya spoke up.

"What the hell did you do?"

"Unlike other ninja, I have a special healing capability that corresponds with my own chakra," Naruto stated, showing her some shallow wounds in his arm, which quickly healed before the girl's astonished eyes. "Whatever damage I take, the wounds heal within minutes. Even serious injuries like broken bones can be fixed in just a few hours. It's a distinctive ability that only occurs naturally to me…"

"B-But… if this ability is only meant for you… how…?"

"Simple. I had some chakra residue left over from my fight with Sasuke, and was still fresh in my body," Naruto replied, looking away. "I passed it into you by focusing my chakra around my lungs, and breathed it into your own, healing not only the damage to your internal organs, but also to your ribs. Don't try to strain them too much though; it'll take a while till they're strong enough to take hits again…"

Tayuya nodded her head, checking to make sure she was fine everywhere else. When she did, she leant back and looked towards Naruto, who was now staring at her, with a very vacant expression. Seeing him, she looked away, blushing brightly.

The memory of the 'kiss of life', as was the proper definition of the intimate chakra exchange, caused the girl to feel more then a little hot under the collar. Above her pride and probably his, he made her feel a million times better then she had been minutes before.

Shifting nervously, the girl spared him but a glance before murmuring, "Thank you…"

"That's okay…" Naruto replied. With that said, he shuffled over to check the condition of her legs. Most of the damage was focused around her knees and calves, which meant walking for her was a big _no_. If she was to possibly go anywhere, he would need to carry her.

Checking the slings, he began noting the big scars on her legs and the splinters in them. Tayuya looked down the length of her body to see what he was doing, not just out of curiosity, but for her own benefit. She couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Well…?"

"You've got a lot of debris stuck in your legs," Naruto said, carefully taking one of her legs in his hands and resting it on his leg. "I'll have to take the bark and other materials out to stop the wounds from getting infected…"

"Fuck…" Tayuya hissed, looking up and away when she actually got a good glimpse at the state of her limbs. Just from looking at it made her aware of the actual pain she was receiving from them. "Make it quick… I can't take it anymore…"

"Alright. But fair warning, this is going to hurt…" Naruto said. Pulling out his kunai, he began methodically and carefully removing the wood wedged into her legs. It was a shocking sight. Not only were her legs shot out and bones broken, but she also had serious skin and muscle damage from the debris. As far as he could tell, she would be lucky to be able to walk a straight line ever again.

Tayuya bit her teeth together tightly and fought back against the pain, sweat spilling down her face as the blonde pulled out one piece of debris after another. There were twigs and alike lodged into her flesh, along with bark and sticks. One was so big it nearly went all the way through her leg. Naruto knew he had to tend to that one quickly, so Tayuya could avoid serious infection and possibly skin degradation.

After removing all the splinters from both her legs, Naruto sat back on the ground and took off his sandal. Albeit a sweaty face, and on the verge of passing out, Tayuya watched the blonde as he began fumbling with his footwear.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Emergency supplies," Naruto stated. Pressing his fingers against the sole, he suddenly slid the base of his sandal padding out from the rest of it, and emptied whatever was inside. To Tayuya's surprise, there was a small amount of stuff in his shoe, including a small scroll, a hidden, filing blade for escape purposes, and some packets containing an unknown substance, and a small rubber flask no bigger then a vial, filled with water. "It's been a long time since I used this stuff…"

He briefly spared a thought back to the time he was locked up in the _Land of Snow_ with Princess Koyuki, and he had to access his emergency kit to try and escape.

Unfolding the paper packets, Naruto then ripped one open with his teeth, and began sprinkling a white powder over Tayuya's legs. The girl hissed when she felt it burn, and looked at him with a furrowed brow and gritted teeth.

"Shit… what the fuck are you doing now?"

"Sulfanilamide; it contains a cauterizing agent and should help stop any infections and clot the blood," Naruto stated. "It's old-school stuff, but it's cheap and easy to hide away." After sprinkling one packet onto her left leg, he used the other one for her right leg. Tayuya bared the brunt of the pain, before it eventually all went away and she could relax.

Using whatever strips of T-shirt he had left, he wrapped them around her legs to cover her wounds. In the end, he was left sitting shirtless up against a large tree, looking down at the red-head as she used his jacket as a pillow.

The two just lay where they were for several minutes, not saying a word to each other. Well, outside of Tayuya's injuries and the fact that Naruto was now wandering around with his only worldly possessions being the clothes on his back, there really wasn't anything for them to say to each other.

However, both of them felt that they should say something, anything that didn't involve fighting, or death, or wounds.

"So… what the fuck happened between you and that spoiled douche-bag of a friend?" Tayuya asked, hesitantly and awkwardly.

Well, obviously there wasn't anything else to talk about. Apparently, the past twenty-four hours seemed like the most reasonable topic.

Naruto simply shrugged, putting the stuff back into his sandal and slipping it back on.

"Not much… we argued, we fought, we drew, and we let each other walk… nothing really," Naruto murmured. "Oh, did I mention we fought?"

"What the fuck's wrong with you?" Tayuya asked, glaring up at him with a frown. "Last time I checked, when I saw you alongside your teammates, you were all chatty, annoying, loud, hypo and… well… honestly, a little crazy. What kind of stick was shoved up your ass to make you so… I don't know… _aloof_?"

"I'm tired… I didn't sleep all night," Naruto replied, his voice a mere drone compared to the tone he used when addressing the red-head beside her in regards to her condition. He looked up at her, that look of exhaustion still written on his face as he analyzed the curiosity etched across her own. After a moment of silence, he raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?"

"Well, yeah. Anything to kill the fucking silence…"

"Hmm…" Naruto looked away again, playing around with a stick between his fingers, before tossing it away. "After getting passed you, I chased after that bone-wielding freak carrying Sasuke in that coffin. I eventually caught up with him at a valley a couple miles out, and when Sasuke finally came round, he simply went on his way, leaving me to deal with your friend…"

"Kimimaro?" Tayuya queried, seeing the questionable look on his face. "That guy wasn't a friend; he was Orochimaru's lap-dog and sex-toy. He would have gladly let that snake bastard cum inside of him if it meant helping the freak fulfill his 'dreams' and 'aspirations'." Tayuya looked away, just missing the small smirk that spread across Naruto's lips. "What happened then?"

"I fought that…'sex-toy' of a comrade of yours for a while. Even at my best, I couldn't even lay a scratch on him. Geez… he was strong. Eventually, one of my friends came around and took the guy off my hands, and I continued after Sasuke. Later on down the road, I caught up to him at the _Valley of the End_, and tried to convince him to come back to Konoha with me. But, understandably, he declined with a harsh yell and a punch to my chest," Naruto shrugged his shoulders, and looked down at the ground, eyes hollow of emotion.

"I was reluctant to fight him, because I thought I could still convince him otherwise. As a result, I took a real beating, even when I tried to defend myself. But… he was _so_ determined to go on… he got the best of me at more then one stage in the fight. Soon enough, when I started fighting back, the whole thing boiled down to a stand-off, with him using the full power of that weird seal Orochimaru gave to him."

Tayuya snorted. "So, from what I can tell, you're both compatible rivals. No wonder you were sent on this mission. You must be pretty strong to go toe-to-toe with a Second Level _Cursed Seal_ user, even a novice…"

"Eventually, after some more yelling, I decided to let him go, and we both promised that we'd fight again another day, to settle the score," Naruto looked up towards the open sky above him. Boy, the forest really was leveled. "I wanted to experience what the world of the shinobi was like outside of the walls of Konoha, so I left; both my headband and my allegiance behind…"

"You abandoned your village?" Tayuya asked incredulously, earning a nod from him. "Can you be anymore stupid? You could have at least gotten your shit together before going, you know?"

"That wasn't part of the deal, apparently," Naruto replied, looking over at her and smiling a bit. "Besides, if I hadn't, then I wouldn't have found you, and you would have been dead by tomorrow."

"Oh…" Tayuya looked away.

Naruto wasn't sure what he said was a good thing or a bad thing, but either way, it wasn't really the right thing to say. So, fumbling back, he cleared his throat, and restarted the conversation.

"Anyway…what about you? All these trees were cut down by something, and since you were pinned underneath one… it begs the question as to what…"

"A storm came down on top me! That's what fucking happened, genius," Tayuya stated, glancing over at him. "I was fighting that lanky-ass teammate of yours for quite some time. He didn't bother fighting me directly, he was running for most of the fight, until he turned the whole thing against me, and I turned it back again. He was incredibly smart and quick on his feet… a big advantage for a shinobi like him out in the field…"

"Never knew Shikamaru had it in him," Naruto stated, giving the girl a half-smile. "Did he force you into a corner?"

"Actually, he did," Tayuya replied, that revelation clicking in her head. "He pulled a fast one over me at the closing end of our battle. Conniving bastard… he lured me in and got me with his shadow. If he'd had enough chakra left, he could have turned the whole fight in his favor. Well… _**I**_ would have had him if that yellow-haired bitch from Sunagakure didn't show up…"

"Hang on," Naruto back-tracked a bit in the conversation. "Did she have this giant metal fan and a smug expression?"

"Yeah… why?"

"That's Gaara's sister," the blonde nodded his head and looked away with a small smile. "Temari… if I remember correctly. She and her brothers must have come as backup for my team. So… they all may have made it out in one piece…"

"Well, lucky you," Tayuya murmured, reaching up with a free hand and rubbing the back of her neck. This action caught the jinchuriki's attention, and he looked over at her to see her massaging her muscles. "Your friends may be alive and well, but I bet all my teammates copped it. Fuck… it still burns?"

"What burns?"

"That pedophile of a master of mine; he gave all of the Sound Four the _Cursed Seal_ to help increase our chakra levels and the potency of our special abilities. His main intentions for giving us the seals were to keep us on a leash and in line, and by extension, he could see everything we could when we were marked," Tayuya furrowed her brow and looked away.

Removing her hand from the back of her neck, she flashed Naruto a glimpse of her tanned flesh, which seemed untouched from the angle she was in. As much as it was an attractive sight, the blonde was more attentive to the faded scar on the back of her neck, where three faint white lines could be seen, as if it were a wound that had healed over a couple years' time.

Tayuya pointed out the mark with a small tab of her finger.

"My _Cursed Mark_ was here. When that fucker felt that I was on the brink of death, he shut off the seal, so that my body wouldn't be salvaged and researched for its secrets," Tayuya growled. "He figured I was going to die, so he simply cut off all the connections he had to me. Shit… nobody wants extra baggage lying around, right?"

"Yeah…" Naruto murmured.

It sounded like she had it the same as him from years ago. Nobody wanted him around, and simply cut him off from society. Even the people he counted on the most, his teachers and friends, he was segregated from all of them. Looking at Tayuya and the way she sat there, fidgeting nervously, giving off that aura of vulnerability, he figured that her only home and family had been with Orochimaru and her teammates. Now, not only was her entire team gone, but her teacher had cut his losses, and abandoned her.

He felt he had found some common ground in her…

"So… what do you plan on doing now?" Tayuya asked, looking over at him. "You're not going back home, so I assume you're going to travel…"

"Yeah, just like Pervy Sage," Naruto stated. "I'll wander around a bit and train. I need to get stronger for the next time I'm going to fight Sasuke…"

"Pervy Sage? Who the hell is that?"

"Oh, that's one of my teachers, Jiraiya. I call him Pervy Sage because… well… he's a pervert. Simple as that," the blonde shrugged his shoulders.

"Right…"

"But I won't last long out here without any weapons…" Naruto stated, rubbing his chin in thought. "I was hoping to be able to find some useful stuff lying around the battlefields where my friends fought, like spent kunai and shuriken. But I guess looking around now would be kind of pointless…"

"Well, at least you don't have two busted legs. I'm still stuck here, you know," Tayuya stated, gesturing to herself. "I have nothing else on me other then the clothes on my back, and I lost my only weapon…"

"Oh… now that you mention it," Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out the flute that he had found. Wiping it down, he then handed it to the girl, whose eyes visibly widened and her expression transformed from frustration to disbelief, when her prized treasure was reintroduced to her. "It was lying a few meters from where you were… I picked it up…"

Wordlessly, Tayuya took it off of his hands and looked at it, as if marveling a spectacular work of art. Like it was her lifeline, as if it were her most precious item in her possession, she hugged it to her, pressing her cheek against the smooth surface of the flute. She sighed as she clutched it, and smiled up at the blonde who returned it to her.

"Again… thank you… thank you so much…"

The girl had to admit, she had never been more grateful towards anyone in her life.

"You're welcome."

As Tayuya caressed her treasure and Naruto watched her with a small smile, silence once again dawned. The sky was clear, the birds chirped in the background, and there was no sign of anyone else for miles. It was kind of a daunting situation, with Tayuya crippled and Naruto practically weaponless, there seemed to be no hope for these two. But Naruto, as new as he was to this situation, had a good idea as to where to go next.

He had a plan being concocted in his coconut of a head.

"Okay… so… since… you and I don't have a village to return to… or anywhere else to go for that matter… that makes us… missing-nin?" the red head considered her words, but found them to be the right ones as she looked up at the blonde. "You say you're not going back home, and I sure as hell ain't going back to that fucking snake. But…I'm still curious as to… what you're… going to do?" She was still absent of idea as to what his plans were, and couldn't help herself but ask.

"First of all, I'm going to get you some proper medical treatment," Naruto stated, nodding towards her legs, as well as the scars across the rest of her body. "I want to get you fixed up, before I go anywhere or do anything else…"

"That's nice, but unless you've forgotten, I _**can't**_ go anywhere!" Tayuya stated, the ridge above her nose crinkling up in irritation. "There isn't a village with proper medical staff for miles, and since we've practically deserted our allies, going anywhere near a shinobi friendly outpost with ties to any of the Hidden Villages is fucking out of the question…"

"I have an idea as to where I can take you, it's a long shot, but I know I can make it work," Naruto quickly replied, giving her another stern look, as he felt her temper climbing. Boy, she reminded him of Sakura. "The _Land of Waves_; my team helped the country out some time ago, and we got heaps of credit with the villagers. It's not only a safe place, but I can get you some help there, and find some new clothes and supplies for us too…"

"The _Land of Waves_?" Tayuya raised an eyebrow. "That's a long-ass march from here. You plan on walking?"

"Yup, and I'm going to carry you all the way there," Naruto smirked, looking rather confident. "It should take us a couple of days of travelling, but if my strength and speed can cut it, I can get us there by tomorrow morning…"

"_Carry_ me… all the way there… in a day? You must be pretty fucking pro at this to act so confident… or you only think you are…"

"Is that a challenge?"

"No… I just find it impossible that you can make such a journey. It took us several days to get out here to the borders…"

"Hmph, well… we'll see who has the last laugh," Naruto exclaimed coolly.

Making sure that her legs were secured, and after collecting his jacket and slipping it on, and not even bothering to zip it up, he picked Tayuya up bridal style, and without another word, began his march towards the Land of Waves. While they were still in the vicinity of the leveled forest, the red head, still overwhelmed by what the boy was doing for her, simply looked up at him with a curious expression, and let loose her question.

"You're too fucking nice to be a ninja," the red head stated before asking, "Why are you doing this?"

Naruto shrugged with a casual yet vacant expression in play.

"Do you really need a reason to help somebody?"

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	3. Across the Bridge

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Across the Bridge_

_**A few hours later…**_

Getting through the thick of the woods was the only hard part of the journey Naruto had to endure. When the pair finally hit the road, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there, with the brilliant blue sky, the bright sun, and clean white clouds drifting overhead, set the perfect backdrop for a long and arduous journey. The sights and smells were simply a calming joy.

It was a sign, which told Naruto that he would make it on this journey, and that trouble was _far_ behind him.

Still, it could have been worse.

At least he had company, in the form of a former enemy.

A former enemy who; if she cursed anymore then she already was, a swear-word would occupy almost every second word or syllable. Furthermore, unlike any of his other friends, she was someone who had a very confronting personality, and yet, could also be kind and friendly when the situation was appropriate.

It was a 'comforting' fact.

But now that both of them no longer rallied to a flag or symbol, they really had no reason to quarrel or start tearing at each others' throats. Instead, they settled for the silence that hung in the air, and enjoyed each other's company, rather then loath it.

During the period in which they met each other as enemies, there was that sense of opposition and unrelenting killing intent directed towards the other. However, when all those factors were removed, they surprisingly got along.

With Naruto no longer being burdened by duty and Tayuya no longer answering to a cold, soulless master, they could act and speak their minds freely, as well as shake off the chains of restraint to their character. This sense of freedom made them feel as though tons of weight have been lifted off of their shoulders. It was fantastic.

As Naruto walked along a winding road, with lush green valleys and forests illuminating their path on both sides, the red head couldn't help but stare curiously up at the boy, as he blindly followed the track leading them to the East.

Although she hated taking kindness from strangers, in this rare case, she was willing to accept it for once. To her, this boy didn't seem to have any bad intentions, nor was he a hard-ass guy to begin with. At first, when she met him in battle, he was a loud, obnoxious, annoying brat. But now that they were no longer clashing kunai, when she took her time to look him over, he seemed like an incredibly descent, quiet and cool guy.

However, she didn't show this outwardly.

She just looked up at him as he carried her, a constant, emotionless expression drawn on his face, a face filled with focus and thought. He seemed more aloof then usual, close to exhausted, yet managed to keep his strength and attention to the road ahead. This fact revealed itself when he detected a pair of eyes on him, and glanced down at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," Tayuya quickly looked away, trying to look uninterested in what she saw in him. However, instead of letting it lie, he persisted with his question.

"You were staring at me. What? Is it something on my face?" he asked, shifting his head around a bit and wiggling his nose, trying to find out what was bothering the girl. "Is it my whiskers?"

"N-No…" The red head looked back up at him, blinking when she did.

Okay, now that he mentioned it, she was _a tad bit_ curious about the whiskers.

"I mean… it's kind of strange. What normal person has fucking whiskers on their face?"

"I don't know," Naruto murmured, looking back up towards the road, watching out so he didn't trip over anything as he strolled along with his added baggage in his arms. "I've always had them. Maybe I was born with them…"

"Are they real?" She backed up this question by lifting her hand up to try and grab them. As it turned out, they were imprinted into his face, and she traced along them with her fingertips. This earned a heavy sigh and a light groan from the boy, who shifted away from her sharply in an uncomfortable way.

"Oh… s-sorry…"

"No, no… it's fine," Naruto replied, looking back at her with his unchanging expression. "It's just… I don't like people touching them. W-Well… not unless I want them to…"

"O-Okay," Tayuya looked away again, lowering her hand back down to rest on her stomach.

A minute of awkward silence dawned since the 'whiskers' incident. The only thing that occurred between then and the next conversation was a couple of chirping birds that flew by, followed by a wandering butterfly. When the occasional sighting of natural fauna managed to cover up the previous subject, Tayuya spoke up again.

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" the red head asked, looking up at him. "You're too fucking nice to be a shinobi… and though you're not the sharpest knife in the set, you can still cut things pretty well."

"I'm _unpredictable_, as the statement goes," Naruto replied, a small, proud smile etching onto his lips when he said that. "My sensei actually complimented me on that, saying it was one of my best qualities. Actually, that's not everything he said. He called me Konoha's _loudest, most unpredictable, knuckleheaded ninja_ the village ever had…"

Tayuya snorted. "Well, he hit the fucking target with that."

"No shit," Naruto smirked back.

His smile eventually fell, yet left Tayuya with a whole bunch of other questions.

"What did your friends think of you?"

"Hmm. Well, on a lot of occasions, they openly and quite frequently said that I was annoying. Shikamaru said hanging around me was _a real drag_," Naruto attempted to imitate his friend's voice, but failed miserably. Still, he got a smile from the red head. "I guess the only people who genuinely enjoyed my company were Choji, Shikamaru… surprisingly enough, and Kiba. Although… Kiba was just as annoying as me and kept poking fun at my quirks. Looking back a bit more, a girl named Hinata was also happy to have me around, and supported me during the Chunin Exams. But she was very shy for some odd reason… kind of weird."

"How weird?"

"I don't know just… _weird_," Naruto tried to explain. "She was very pleasant, quiet… and she always turned bright red in the face whenever I walked passed or stood near her."

"Oh…"

"What?"

"No nothing. It's just… Anyway… umm… those three boys that you mentioned before… they were on the team with you, yeah?" Tayuya asked, earning a nod from the blonde. "Were they strong?"

"Oh yeah, Kiba is strong, and Shikamaru, where he sucks at taijutsu and close-range stuff, is smarter then an entire team put together. Nevertheless, he and Choji weren't nearly as motivated enough to live up to their full potential," Naruto shook his head. "I always said to the two of them, _don't give up so easily_, but they never listen…"

"What about that brown haired guy… the suave, stick-up-his-ass, mope?" Tayuya asked.

"Neji? I'm not sure, I haven't known him long enough to really say anything about him," Naruto shrugged. "Though, I know he's shockingly strong… stronger then Sasuke before using that cursed seal to transform into a _bat_ with hands for wings. Also…I know that prior to becoming… well… _nice_… Neji was a bit of a jerk." A distinct revelation crossed Naruto's mind, which became reflected in his slight change of expressions, from stoic to thoughtful.

"Okay, now that I think about it, he's _definitely_ a lot like Sasuke…"

"You know some interesting characters?" Tayuya mused. "Useless bums, arrogant pricks and alike…"

"If you're putting it that way, yeah," Naruto replied, shrugging. "But I like those 'arrogant pricks' and 'useless bums."

"Don't take my words the wrong way. Really. Because my teammates were no different," Tayuya stated, earning a curious glance from the blonde.

"What were they like?" Naruto asked. "_Your_ companions. Those other four weirdoes…"

"Well, for starters, Kimimaro was the biggest _tool_ of all time," the red head informed, a-matter-of-factly. "Though, I did hear from several sources around Otogakure several months ago that he was a pretty good kid when he was younger. Back then, he was very outspoken, quiet and kind… before he became all cold and unwelcoming." It was then, something else popped into the back of her head, and she looked up at the blonde with her next question. "That reminds me, since you back-tracked across most of the fucking country, did you find out what happened to him?"

"Oh, he's dead," Naruto replied, as if it were just casual small talk, and not at all shocking. "I found him petrified in a forest of bones, protruding from one of those rib-looking spires he created. He must have died from something inside of his body, like a serious illness, because he sure as hell wasn't crushed by Gaara's sand or beaten to a bloody pulp by Lee…"

"That's news. I never thought he could be beaten. That cock-weasel was stronger then all four of us put together, easily on a level above an ordinary Jonin, and was nothing short of invincible," Tayuya stated, shaking off the surprise that the biggest prick she'd ever known had actually been killed. "Even though he was dying from an unknown disease that should have rendered his body incapable of movement, he was still able to move through sheer willpower."

"Really?" Naruto asked, a bit astounded at hearing that. When he saw the red-head nod, he looked up, eyes reflecting his bewilderment. "Damn. I'd hate to think how strong he actually was when at full health. He must have been something else. What about the other three?"

"Well… Sakon was stronger then me, and had a bit of a nasty streak. Actually, he wasn't just a person; he was two people in one; Sakon and Ukon. Those brothers had this strange ability that allowed them to fuse with other people, which was why Orochi-cocker desired them so much. Not to mention they were physically powerful to boot and extremely compatible in combat," Tayuya explained, earning a nod from Naruto as he listened on. "He was a strange fellow, a lot like my old boss with the tongue-licking, the sadistic personality and the cross-dressing."

"What about that freak with the arms," Naruto visibly shivered at the memory. "He was pretty creepy."

"No shit," Tayuya chuckled. "Kidomaru; he was a snide fuck, incredibly smart… smarter then me, and despite his strengths and weaknesses, he didn't have a shred of human decency or morality whatsoever. Of course, whenever his little quirks took him one step too far, I was always there to whoop his ass whenever he got ahead of himself." She sounded pretty proud by this statement, and grinned up at the blonde. "Man… that was tons of fun. What about you? Did you beat the shit out of any of your teammates?"

"In all honesty, _**I**_ was the one getting the shit kicked out of him," Naruto gave the girl a small smile. "Sakura saw to that… whenever I stepped out of line or tried to put in some valued input to improve team dynamics. Maybe it _was_ best that she beat the snot out of me from time to time…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Look at me now," Naruto exclaimed, smirking. "A year of being on my team, and I'm finally walking straight."

"Shit, you're one piece of work," Tayuya grinned, thoroughly amused at the conversation they were sharing. "No matter how many times somebody knocks you down, whether it is from physical punishment or fucking verbal abuse; you just get back up."

"I've had years of practice," Naruto replied, his smile faltering somewhat. "A _lot_… of practice…"

"Really?"

"I'd rather not get too into it," the blonde replied, and found that he meant it. However, this did not deter him from further chat. Wanting the friendly dialogue to continue, he decided to act on one of the questions he had stored, and with a curious expression in play, let it fly. "What about you, ff you don't mind me asking? Why with all the swearing?"

"It's my way of coping with the fucking world," Tayuya stated, looking away with a furrowed brow, taking some irk from his question. "A lot of things can really piss you off. There's no such thing as a clean-mouthed shinobi, after all."

"Yeah but you…" Naruto gestured down at her with a raised eyebrow. "You take swearing to a whole new level. Even when you're happy and nothing is bugging you, you just _have_ to cop one of the forbidden fruits."

"Well, maybe this shit-pile of a world's dug in so deep into my skin that it's fucking natural to me," Tayuya snapped back. "It's a reflex… something I do unconsciously… I can't help it."

"Okay… that's fine," Naruto looked away again. "I was just curious… it's… I've got nothing against it. It's just that I've never met a person like you before. I get curious."

"Ditto," Tayuya's anger dropped, and she decidedly gave Naruto a friendlier gaze accompanied by a smile. "I've never met a guy quite like you either. Apparently, in Kami's eyes, we're both unordinary people…"

"Yeah…"

Silence fell for a few seconds, cushioning the end of the discussion that they had just shared. When time came to pass, and the sun had just moved another inch across the sky, they both decided to reengage each other in another short chat.

After all, things were getting interesting.

"You have blonde hair…"

"Is that a problem?"

"No. It's just…there have been very few people I've seen, let alone met, who've had blonde hair," Tayuya pointed out, but then furrowed her brow as she contemplated her words. "Fuck, now that I think about it, I haven't met anybody with blonde hair."

"What? Is it that uncommon?"

"You're apparently the only cock in the entire _Land of Fire_ that has blonde hair," the girl stated.

"Well… what about you?" Naruto looked at her, analyzing his passenger from head to toe. "You've got red hair that's just as appealing as mine. Choji has orange hair and Gaara's is sort of brownish… but your hair is bright red… like… _really_ bright."

"So?"

"It's just… well… it's…" Naruto tried to form a reply, but looking at the girl's untamed, flowing head of hair, he was unable to make any form of smart-ass response. He was just too captivated by the color of her locks to even care. So, instead of responding in his typical manner, he simply turned away with an emotionless expression in play as he spoke up once again. "It's… lovely. Your hair is bright and beautiful…" A streak of red flushed across his cheeks.

"Huh?" Tayuya blinked as she slowly registered to his reply. She didn't expect him to compliment her on her hair, let alone use such affectionate words. It was unnatural for her, and didn't seem to appeal to his personality at all.

It wasn't until her mind bypassed his sudden flattering remark that she bristled up a reply of her own. "Oh no!"

"Pardon?"

"No! No. Please say you didn't just comment on my hair. Are you fucking trying to make a pass at me?"

"W-What?"

"You'd better not be trying anything funny with me, bastard. Because I swear, I may not be able to kick your ass right now, but I sure as hell can give you a pounding from where I lie!"

"I didn't mean it that way…"

"Seriously. Why did you…"

"I just think your hair is nice!" Naruto raised his voice, shutting the girl up at his sudden volume increase. He looked away from the red head, and focused more on the path ahead of him. So much time had passed them that he didn't even realize they had already crossed the valley and were descending a hillside surrounded by evergreen trees.

"I… I just noticed… you had very nice hair. It's just common courtesy to recognize nice things about people…"

Tayuya blinked incredulously as she looked up at him. Eventually, when memory of her presumptuous responses came back to her, she averted her gaze in shame. It was kind of unreasonable of her to have reacted in such a manner, as she felt she may have upset him with her snap.

"I think… you've got pretty cool hair, too…" she whispered, in an effort to rekindle her relationship with her savior.

Naruto smiled slightly at her words.

"Thanks…"

"It suits you," Tayuya gave him a more overlooking gaze, intent on breaking him down some more, so that they could get to know each other a little better. "You're unpredictable, you're smart in some areas… not the perfect shinobi… but still pretty good. You have physical strength and stamina where you lack in smarts, and you've got spunk. I'll also admit you're… kind of cute…" She blushed and looked away, shutting her eyes and covering up her embarrassment with stubbornness. "Overall, it's a pass."

Naruto appreciated her watered down comment on him, and smiled back at her. "Well… I think you're pretty cool too. You swear a lot, but you're also clean-mouthed at times, and you're brutally honest, as well as hot-headed. But that's a good trait in my books." He shrugged and looked up from the glaring girl, who had been more or less expecting a better review on her performance.

As she was considering punching him for his downgraded comments, he surprised her once again with a better, hard-copy of his summary on her.

"You're also really cute, you've got nice hair, and you're smart, as well as strong. From my point of view, you're… exceptional… _rare… unique_," Naruto grinned.

His comments earned him a blush from the girl, who tried to hide it as best as she could. In response, she jabbed him in the arm, but only lightly to earn a bit of a wince from the blonde.

"Unique?"

"Yup," Naruto gave her a small smile. "And I don't say that to just anyone."

They shared small smiles, as they continued to march along through the shadows and lights of the thicket of forest now encompassing them. At this point in time, the two of them have come to grounds on certain aspects about the other person, and found their company tolerable, as well as intriguing and enjoyable. It was from knowing just that little bit more about what the other individual was like, made the pair think inwardly about the possibility of actually tagging along with the other in the foreseeable future.

After all, no one really wants to be alone.

A few minutes of walking in silence, and both of them couldn't help, but voice their final opinions of the other.

"You know what… I like you," Naruto smiled a bit, but didn't look down at her.

"Same," Tayuya grinned. "You're a nice, interesting guy…"

They shared respective grins.

But before their conversation could carry on, a blank look suddenly flashed across the red-head's face.

"O-Oh…"

"What?"

Tayuya looked extremely nervous when she glanced up at him.

"I need to go to the bathroom…"

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the forest, Naruto and Tayuya sat on opposite sides of the same tree, and with good reason.

For one, Naruto was out of sight, and had his fingers shoved into his ears, covering up the business going on behind him. Though he had a good idea of and respect for privacy, he still needed to be close by, just in case the red head needed any assistance. Speaking of which, he had already been a big help when he aided her in situation her in the proper position, in order for her to do her number one, while not falling over at the same time.

In spite of this, it was still embarrassing and unbearable for the both of them, which reflected in their intense expressions.

However, it at least helped that both parties couldn't see each other.

"Are you done yet?" Naruto asked.

"No!"

Naruto sighed when her snarl of a response came back at him.

"_How am I going to cope…?"_

"Just let me know when you're finished."

"Would you shut-up! I'm trying to concentrate on keeping my balance!"

"Right, sorry…"

He couldn't help but ask himself again; _why did he decide to drag her along_? He wasn't bothered by the fact that he was helping someone in need. In fact, he enjoyed helping people. The only problem though, was that he was helping somebody with such an independent and fierce spirit, one who felt that they didn't need any help.

It kind of went against the entire concept of helping a person.

He eventually put a clamp on his racing thoughts, knowing it would give him a migraine.

Naruto's only consolation from the whole ordeal was that he was getting a real kick out of chatting with the red head, and he enjoyed her company very much, despite her little quirks.

This brought a smile to his lips.

A blink from him occurred when he suddenly spotted something over the apex of the hill in front of him. Through the forest of evergreens, his sharp gaze caught onto the small silhouette of something hiding out of plain sight. Thanks to the downward wind, keen ears and sharpened observation skills, he was able to pinpoint the subject in question.

Focusing more attentively on the area in front of him, he saw the distinct snout and fur pattern of a small fox, hiding away in the bushes, watching him. The swish of a tail from the other side of the tree let him in on the fact that it was that animal, for sure.

Naruto watched as it poked its head out little by little, observing him from afar, to determine whether or not he was a threat. When its head and eyes protruded out completely, the blonde smiled and waved at it. It ducked away when it saw the movement, but then moved its head out a few inches more to stare at the blonde.

The fox and the boy continued to stare at each other, till Naruto heard Tayuya behind him finish up, and knock on the tree trunk to get his attention. He glanced over his shoulder to see her hanging onto the lower branch of the tree for support, literally suspending herself above the ground where her legs couldn't, and was glaring at him with a flustered expression.

Truthfully, she wasn't flustered at having to do this by herself. She was more or less embarrassed by the fact that she had to go pee right next to him.

Any man would have felt her wrath at this point, but since she was crippled and because he was her ride, she couldn't bring herself to scold him.

Instead, she approached him in her usual, defiant manner.

"Is that a fox?" she asked, spotting the creature in front of them, which hid away at the sight of her.

"Yeah…" Naruto replied, ducking under the overhanging branch and taking her weight over his shoulders when she wrapped an arm around him. He moved them back under the tree, and headed up the hill where the path was.

Picking her up and carrying her the same way he has been for the past several miles, they hit the road, and began to walk once again.

As they made their way down hill into the lowlands, Tayuya took her time to enjoy the sight of the sun breaking through the trees, and the various types of flora and fauna around her. While at the same time, she became curious, as well as suspicious, of the fox Naruto had spotted behind them.

It was quickly brought to her attention that the creature was following them.

Tayuya observed as the critter scurried after them from hiding place to hiding place. She looked more attentively over Naruto's shoulder to see it dash across the dirt road and hide away in the bushes, before poking its head out to watch them more closely.

To both parties, it was a peculiar and intriguing sight.

"Don't look now, but it's following us," Tayuya whispered, furrowing her brow at the darting, orange fur ball with the fluffy tail trailing behind it.

"I know," Naruto said.

"_Why_ is she following us?"

"Oh… it's a girl?" the blonde looked behind him as he sauntered on, to see the fox standing in the middle of the road. He had just a split second to notice its build and smaller frame, as well as its shorter snout and ears, before it dashed back into the bushes on the side of the path. "Hmph, you're right."

"Woman's intuition," Tayuya stated. "But… why?"

"She might smell something coming off of one of us, or she's just curious," Naruto shrugged.

"Mmm…"

The pair walked on.

For some time after that, the odd pair continued their march across the valleys, forests, and fields. It didn't escape their notice that some of the fields were being tended to by farmers, and that there were also small villages established down separate forks in the road. However, they stayed true to the road they were following and did not become discouraged from it.

Throughout the time that passed them by, the pair continued to talk, mostly in regards to their former teammates, companions, and people they knew, as well as commenting further on each others' personalities and notable characteristics. Naruto asked her about her flute and musical abilities, while she also asked him about his incredible stamina and unrestrained endurance capabilities.

During their friendly discussions and their trek across the countryside, they were continually shadowed by the small fox that spotted them in the woods. The little animal apparently had nothing else to do or a home to return to, and yet didn't pester them beyond simply hiding under the cover of bushes and watching them.

Unfortunately, this didn't sit too well with ninjas, who always had their senses in tuned with their surroundings for pairs of eyes watching them.

Tayuya even suggested Naruto to kill the fox so they could eat it. The blonde Genin however, voted against that idea, and instead responded by saying that he would catch them some fish for later.

However, fishing would have to be adjourned for another day, as Naruto arrived at the top of a hill overlooking the East Coast, and almost immediately, spotted the huge bridge leading into _Wave Country_ far below. It was about ten miles away, so that meant there was a bit more walking till he and the girl in his arms were home free.

They were still in the _Land of Fire_ after all; anything could happen.

Tayuya marveled at the view as they stood at the peak of the hill. She shaded her eyes with her hand as she looked from horizon to horizon.

"Damn. That's one big-ass bridge," the red head whistled.

"You've never been to the _Land of Waves_?" Naruto queried inquisitively, catching on to her impressed tone of voice. "I expected you or your team to have been down here a couple of times… you know… on missions and stuff."

"Nah. It's not that we didn't want to, it was because we couldn't. Since a lot of the racket coming out of that land had absolutely no value whatsoever to Lord Orochi-cocker, we stayed well away from it on his orders. I had no idea they had something like that sitting between them and this country," Tayuya exclaimed, still awed by the stretch of bridge. The blonde holding her smiled slightly and nodded his head.

"Yeah… well… it was a lot of work for them… for _all_ of them. _That_ bridge right there, is a testament to the entire country's hard work and courage; something I'm sure they're all proud of," Naruto stated. Despite his tired exterior, Tayuya could tell he was pleased from the positive influxes in his voice.

"I remember, you mentioned earlier that you and your team helped the people down there out of a real pickle about a year ago," the flute player said, earning a glance from the boy. "What happened, exactly?"

"I'll tell you more about it when we get there," Naruto answered. "I'm exhausted, and I need to crash somewhere comfortable before I collapse on my own. Although… if you're really curious, I _can_ say this. I had plans on coming down here for some time to visit, and to soak in the culture once the country was back on its feet. I promised some friends that I would."

"Uh-huh," Tayuya murmured, relaxing back into his grip as he began traipsing down the hillside. She was a little disappointed that he was holding back a supposedly tasty tale from her, but she was sure to get a real kick out of it when they reached their destination. So she settled to silence until then.

However, something continued to bug her as he walked down the hill at a staggered pace.

It was sitting right in front of her, but she couldn't quite make it out. Looking up at the blonde stranger carrying her, she couldn't help but feel that something was… misplaced.

Eventually, that nagging and prodding behind her brain, suddenly turned into a painful pinch when she realized what was out of place. She nearly slapped herself. How could she be so stupid?

"Fuck. We've been talking for hours, and I don't even know your name!" Tayuya looked up at the boy with a very surprised expression.

That fact that had been hovering outside of Naruto's thoughts also came round at the same time the red head he was carrying stumbled upon that revelation.

He literally stopped in the middle of the road and looked down at her in bewilderment.

"Damn. You're right…"

"W-Well…" Tayuya cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders. "H-How… how do we do this?"

"What? Introducing each other?"

"Yeah. I mean… it's weird. We've been… 'bonding' and talking about random shit all this time, and we don't even know that one important aspect about the other person."

"I can agree with you there."

Deciding that formalities should be settled once and for all, Naruto braced himself, and held his left hand out to the girl, while managing to hold her up and stable at the same.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki…"

Tayuya eyed his extended hand for a moment, before smiling and taking it in hers. They shared a firm, very friendly handshake, while giving the other their most appealing grin.

"I'm Tayuya… just… Tayuya…" the red head exclaimed. "It's nice to meet you, Naruto…"

"It's nice to meet you too, Tayuya."

* * *

Another half an hour passed, and by the time Naruto reached the road leading up to the bridge, the day was already pulling into a sunset. The orange sky illuminated the area in a magnificent glow, and Naruto couldn't help but marvel at its beauty. Tayuya became more entranced in the sky as well, and along with her savior, also began searching the skies for more of its brilliance.

At the same time, she continually kept glancing back to see if the fox was still following them. Much to half a feeling of disappointment and half a feeling of delight, the mammal was nowhere to be seen.

When they reached the bridge, Naruto paused momentarily to look up at the gate entrance, and the name of the length of steel and concrete crossing the channel before him, engraved on the plaque. He blinked in astonishment when he saw the name.

"No way…"

Tayuya caught on to his whisper of disbelief, and quickly looked in the direction he was. Her expression mirrored his when she saw the title of the bridge, the very structure laid out before her, plastered right above her head.

"_**The Great Naruto Bridge-**_ are you fucking serious?" Tayuya pointed at the sign, then back at him. She looked between the blonde and the sign several times, her incredulous expression unchanging, before she unexpectedly burst out laughing. Naruto glared at her as she bawled away, slapping him on the shoulder and clutching her chest as she struggled to breathe through her extreme display of amusement.

"Kami! This is fucking too good to be true! A bridge is named after you! I can't believe this!" Tayuya wheezed through chuckles. She wiped a tear away from her eye before grinning up at the sign. "Man, what were they smoking?"

"Are you done?" Naruto asked, a little bit peeved.

"Yup… for the next few seconds," Tayuya snickered.

The blonde shook his head at her, and continued on, with her continuing to laugh out right at his own expense. So he decided to put the issue behind him.

The moment his feet touched the surface of the bridge, Naruto instantly felt a surge of nostalgia cross his mind. His memories took him back to his first real battle with an enemy shinobi outside of Konohagakure. Zabuza and Haku, two powerful combatants, whom he held in high regard, and respected beyond any other foe he had ever fought. They were a pair who fought valiantly, and gave their lives on this structure for their cause. It was a sacrifice Naruto admired, and had him smile in tribute.

Tayuya spotted the small grin, and matched it with her own, snide one. "What? Did the name catch on?"

"No… I'm just… _thinking_," Naruto replied smoothly.

"You know… if this bridge was named after you, really… all I can say is that… you are _some_ piece of work, shithead," Tayuya exclaimed.

"Thanks," the blonde shook his head, yet kept smiling. "That makes me feel loads better."

Returning to the place where it all began…

This gave Naruto an idea and a hope that he actually had the opportunity to start anew…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Author's Note: **__I wanted to try and convey a more realistic conversation between Naruto and Tayuya for the first time, about how they don't completely trust one another at first, and then slowly start to let go as time went on, and become more comfortable around the other. It also reminded me of a time of how I shared a conversation with a girl that lasted for a few hours and at the end of it, we introduced each other. It's funny how things work sometimes._


	4. Helping a Friend

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Helping a Friend_

_**A little while later…**_

The walk through the village had been a rather pleasant and insightful one. After just one year since the last time Naruto had been in Wave Country, he was already seeing a lot of changes. The streets were cleaner, the buildings were being rebuilt, refurbished and redesigned, the shops were packed, and more were open for business. Even new stores and buildings the blonde had never seen before had been set up left and right, including hotels, restaurants, and supply stores. But the most significant change he was able to make out was that the village was bustling, and the local port was filled with ships.

It was fantastic.

"Wow… all of this came from just building the bridge," Naruto murmured, looking around as he strolled through town with the girl still resting in his arms.

"What do you expect? Thanks to that structure, they've been reconnected with the rest of the world, they no longer have to answer to a business tyrant, and with the shipping business open again, their infrastructure and economy is fucking booming," Tayuya stated, throwing her arms out in an effort to make her account seem more 'dramatic'.

"Well, as long as they're doing okay. I'm not too familiar with the business world," the blonde replied with a casual shrug and a small smile. "Still, this place looks like it's getting on just fine now…"

Naruto paused for a moment when he spotted a ninja supply store sitting on the left-hand side of the road. He looked in through the entrance to see an assortment of gear, tools and equipment displayed, along with several other items he was familiar with. A more prominent smile adorned his features as he admired the business from afar, and was mentally drawn to the sight of it. His brief absence of thought however, earned him a quick thump to the chest from his passenger.

"Oye! Shithead! Crippled girl here! Do you mind getting us to your friend's house so I can rest?" Tayuya said, crossing her arms.

Naruto nodded back, and took his leave towards Tazuna's home, which was some ways out of town. He made a note in the back of his head to return later to get the supplies he required, and then some. However, first thing's first, he had to find a doctor or better yet, a surgeon, to work on Tayuya's broken legs, and to check for other forms of physical trauma.

He had to help her first before settling his own problems.

But, unbeknownst to the pair, they were being watched.

It was unlike Naruto to not notice a ramen bar. The smell itself was enough to drive him bonkers. Nevertheless, because he was so focused on helping his new found friend, he overlooked an open noodle bar on the right hand side of the street. The bickering of customers and villagers crisscrossing the avenue obscured most of Naruto's view of the place, but did little to mask _**him**_ from view. From the shadows of the restaurant, two sets of eyes glared, and followed him up the road as he made his way through the thinning crowd.

The locals took little notice of the beige, wild-haired strangers wearing snorkel like breathing apparatus', as well as the tattered ponchos and Hidden Mist headbands, sitting precariously around a small table, with bowls of steaming ramen laid out in front of them.

Their day had started out pleasantly, but now, while it hadn't been anticipated, and they sure as hell hadn't been expecting this…

…the brothers astonishingly spotted the one person whom they hated more then anyone else in the world, walk right by them.

The spiky haired blonde responsible for their incarceration a year before…

"It's him…"

"That scared little brat that tied us to a tree…"

* * *

Naruto knocked on the door of the familiar home he had once stayed at on his very first C-Rank mission with Team 7, which had turned into an A-Rank mission about half way through. Boy did that cause them some trouble.

He rapped on the door a couple of times, and waited patiently for it to be answered by whoever was in. Tayuya also stared at the door in front of her curiously, before glancing up at the boy who was holding her.

"So… what's the old fart's name?"

"Tazuna… and you could stand to be a little bit nicer… and not call him an old fart," Naruto shrugged. "Although, you two would probably get along, given how he is."

"Right…"

Several seconds later, the door opened, with nobody standing in front of them to greet them, oddly enough.

That was until both shinobi looked down slightly to see a boy wearing a fisherman's hat looking up at them in surprise. It took Naruto just a glance to recognize the boy as Inari, and grinned at him the moment he spotted him.

"Hey there, little bro…"

It took Inari slightly longer to put a face with a name for the person in front of him, and once he did his eyes and face literally lit up like a Christmas tree. With a sniffle and a laugh, the kid leapt at Naruto and hugged him at the waste, nearly tripping the blonde and his passenger over at his forcefulness. The boy simply laughed and giggled as he happily hugged the teen he considered an older brother.

"Naruto-nii-san!" Inari laughed.

The blonde chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair, before stepping away to give him a little room to breathe. With Tayuya still in his arms, he had a lot of weight to balance as well.

"It's great to see you again, Inari," Naruto said with a smile, looking the boy up and down. "Hey. You've grown a lot since I last saw you…"

"Yeah! So have you. You look like you've gotten taller… _**and**_ stronger!"

Tayuya snickered at that comment, earning a puzzled look from Naruto.

"What?"

"Seriously? Taller?"

"I was born short, okay…" Naruto hissed back, earning another giggle from the redhead and a wide grin from the child standing before them.

"Inari… who's at the door?" A second, familiar voice suddenly called out from somewhere inside the small house. The boy who was inquired by the new voice turned around to reply, with Naruto smiling brightly at hearing that Tsunami was also alive and well.

"Come see, mum!"

This prompted the woman to abandon her duties and accompany her son at the entrance of their home. When she appeared at the doorway, and saw exactly who it was that was standing on her doorstep, she too lit up with joy. These responses came as a peculiarity to Tayuya, who simply regarded their smiles and looks of joy to be a reaction to seeing Naruto.

He must have done something really amazing to have earned such a warm welcome.

"Naruto-kun. My, what a surprise," Tsunami exclaimed. She then noticed the girl in his arms, the red head meekly dipping her head when she felt eyes fall on her. "Oh… who's your friend?"

"She's my client," Naruto grinned, and also looked down at the girl cradled in his arms. "She needs medical treatment and we need a place to stay for a few days. Do you mind…?"

"No! Not at all! Please, come in," Tsunami said, giving the young Genin room to walk through. "You and your friends are always welcome here."

The prospect of Naruto staying over again had Inari jumping with delight, and once Naruto stepped in through the door, he trotted after them like a puppy, eager to hear the _gallant_ tales and adventures the blonde had to share with them. Once Tsunami locked the door behind them, she led the small group into the bedroom, and set out a futon for Naruto to rest Tayuya on.

The blonde couldn't help but notice that it was the very same bed Kakashi occupied when he was incapacitated here for an entire week.

Making sure the red head was comfortable; Naruto sat down beside her and watched as she adjusted herself to the new conditions. Visibly relieved at no longer needing to be carried, the girl looked up at the boy who had transported her all the way here, and gave him a small grin.

"I guess I lost…"

"Lost?"

"Yeah… remember," Tayuya reached up and poked him in the chest. "We made a bet of whether or not you could actually make it to _Wave Country_ in a day from the _Valley of the End_. And look… you made it… and on top of that… no dramas…"

"Yeah… I guess I did make it," he chuckled, leaning back and looking up towards the ceiling. "Boy… that was some walk."

Tsunami and Inari also sat around the futon as Tayuya and Naruto relaxed. Overwhelming fatigue and exhaustion finally hitting the girl, she slowly lulled into sleep, eyes fluttering closed and movement ceasing. When her breathing steadied and fell into a relaxed rhythm, the three people present were also able to gather a sense of relief.

The woman sitting across from Naruto withdrew her attention from the girl, and instead, directed it towards the boy. Tsunami smiled up at him as she watched him look over and observe the girl in her light slumber, paying careful attention to her features, and making sure nothing was bothering her.

Even when she was sleeping, he was still exceedingly protective of her.

The mother found it incredibly sweet that Naruto was taking all of his time and effort and devoting it to taking care of her. Sure she knew the boy to be kind, courageous and tough, but never a real sweetheart at this level. Recognizing that little, invisible bond between the pair, Tsunami glimpsed somewhat of a future for them, but at the same time, didn't push for any serious answers. Instead, she went on with other business, while deciding to work around the question of how the young ninja came to be in her company.

"You look tired, Naruto-kun," Tsunami pointed, the blonde Genin looking up at her with bags under his eyes. Seriously, he was a wreck, not just physically, but also mentally. "Were you really carrying her all day across the _Land of Fire_?"

"Yeah," Naruto yawned, rubbing his right eye with a free hand, and smiling warmly up at the single mother. "I marched the entire distance from the North Western highlands, all the way down to the East Coast. I'm surprised I was able to rack up the miles in the time that I had."

"Well… you should get some rest too. You look like you need it," Tsunami stated, before looking over at her son, who was sitting beside her, ogling Naruto with great curiosity and eagerness. She gently nudged the boy out of his daze. "Inari, please go get Shuhei-san. He will need to have a look at her…"

"Yes mum," Inari complied. He quickly leapt to his feet and without sparing a word, dashed out of the room and out the door for the village.

After seeing her son off, Tsunami turned back to her patient and guest. While first intent on pulling the covers over the sleeping girl, she instead went on to check the condition of her legs. She shook her head as she analyzed the damage, and moved back a little, furrowing her brow in thought. Naruto noted the woman's slowly changing expressions, with the shake of her head showing her uncertainty and distress. This didn't sit too well with the blonde, who shuffled forward in concern.

"W-Will she be okay?"

"I'm not sure," Tsunami replied, rubbing her chin in deliberation. "Last time I was able to help, the patient… _your_ sensei, was severely fatigued and bed-ridden. Broken bones however, aren't exactly my specialty…"

"Oh. But… from your point of view, is it really that bad?"

"The legs have suffered considerable trauma, so I'm guessing there are several broken bones and torn muscles. We'll just have to wait till Inari comes back with the doctor, so he can assess the full extent of the damage," Tsunami stated, earning a nod from the blonde.

With that said, she slowly pulled the covers over Tayuya as the girl further relaxed into the pillow. Making sure she didn't move too much, the mother then looked up at Naruto to see him staring down at the red head with great worry. He was extremely quiet… uncharacteristically quiet. As far as she knew, Naruto wasn't the type of person to be silent in this situation.

But who was she to argue about a few changes in his personality.

"Who is she really, Naruto-kun?"

"Whatever do you mean?" The boy looked up at her casually, a small smile in play as he put on a mask of vigilance.

"Naruto… if she _was_ a 'client', a teammate, or a friend of yours, wouldn't it have been best for you to take her back to Konoha to have her treated? I'm sure their doctors over there are better then ours, and that a job like this would be nothing for them. Why'd you bring her all the way out here?" Tsunami asked.

Naruto chuckled as he knelt back, giving the woman a more flourished grin.

"When did you catch on?"

"The moment I watched you rest her down on the futon," Tsunami replied, raising an eyebrow. "Not to mention you're not acting your usual self. So…I'm guessing whatever is happening or _has_ already happened, it's got something to do with this girl."

"I'd rather not say much," the blonde replied quickly, looking away a bit. "It's better that you know as little about what's going on. You might get into trouble if I speak too much."

"Fair enough," Tsunami replied, rising to her feet. The woman dusted herself down, and making sure she didn't leave anything out of place, smiled at the boy. "I'll go get you two some tea and biscuits, just in case she wakes up. Is there anything else you would like or need?"

"Maybe just a bath… and probably some new clothes for the both of us," Naruto looked down at himself, furrowing his brow at the state he was in. Showing up on a doorstep like this really wasn't his style, but he couldn't help it. "I think I'll talk to old-man Tazuna about the clothes. Where is the old drunk, anyway?"

"Oh, he's in town at a construction conference. He should be back soon though, so you can talk to him later," Tsunami said with a smile and a nod, before she too walked out of the room, leaving Naruto to his devices.

However, just as she was about to turn a corner and step completely out of sight, she looked back at the young ninja to see him fussing over fluffing up the girl's pillow. The sight had her grin a bit, as he was acting all caring and considerate for someone whom she'd never seen, and also whom he'd only known for a day.

That fact, nonetheless, was beyond her knowledge.

"She's a very lovely girl, Naruto. I can see that you two are perfect for each other…" the woman giggled, and headed for the kitchen, leaving the blonde blushing where he sat.

"_That woman has a mean streak, I know it…"_

_

* * *

_

_**Later that night…**_

Inari arrived shortly afterwards with the doctor. The man named Shuhei took a good look at the girl's condition, starting with the most serious injuries and working his way down. Naruto stood by the entire time as Tayuya was inspected from head to toe, much to the girl's chagrin. After all, the man was of a more traditional practice, and didn't have any medical jutsu to help him out. However, he did pick up a thing or two from his years of treating patients, not just civilians, but also ninja, samurai, bounty hunters, mercenaries and alike. Tayuya was no exception to this list.

He quickly came to the conclusion that, though her lungs, chest and upper body were fine, she had quite a large amount of flesh wounds, and that her legs needed to be cleaned, sterilized, and stitched up before he could begin realigning them so that they could heal properly.

It would be a long haul.

Since Naruto wouldn't stop worrying about the whole _broken-legs-thing_, Tayuya took it upon herself and 'kicked' him out of the room, so to speak, with the help of Tsunami. At the same time, Shuhei set to work on fixing her up.

With Naruto now forced to wait in the kitchen, fidgeting nervously and worrying to no end, he found himself in the company of Tazuna and Inari, both of them eager to speak with him, having not seen him in ages.

It was, in most cases, great to reunite with familiar faces.

"So Naruto… I hear from Tsunami that you're in some kind of trouble," the old man exclaimed, brushing a hand through his hair as he grinned across at the blonde sitting in front of him, "And not the usual kind of trouble; _girl_ trouble… _**and**_ ninja trouble."

Naruto looked up, a bit startled at the man's words.

"I… have… no idea what you're talking about," the blonde hurriedly replied, before looking away. "I'm sure that whatever she told you, she also explained that I didn't want to talk about it either." He closed his eyes, stubbornly resisting further interrogation on the issue. At the same time, he was putting up his usual façade for the two of them, trying to use simple words, and act his former, stubborn, dull-witted self.

"Well… she did mention you were acting more… how should I put this, drearier then normal. Nevertheless…I'm curious," Tazuna grinned, leaning forward and eyeing the boy curiously as he cracked an eye open and looked at the pair. "Who is she… exactly?"

"Is she your girlfriend, Nii-san?" Inari asked excitedly.

Naruto's head slipped from his arm propping him up, and his forehead slammed into the surface of the table. He then looked up at the pair, flustered, blushing brilliantly, and with a red, perfectly round imprint on his forehead.

"She's not my girlfriend!" He hoped to God that Tayuya couldn't hear him.

"Okay. Okay. Easy, kid. If you say she isn't, she isn't. Whatever you say. Still, from the way you're acting, it's making me think otherwise," the bridge builder chuckled and leaned back, while Inari was continuing to grin widely.

"So… you like her then?" the grandson asked as he bounced up and down in his chair. "I can see why. She's very pretty."

"I… that's… she's… uhh…"

"Now, now, Inari, let's not push him too far and too fast," Tazuna said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and gently lowering him back down into his seat. The old man grinned at his grandson, as he made himself comfortable again. "Naruto is still unsure of whether he likes this girl or not. Let's let him decide. We don't want him rushing into things."

"I couldn't agree more," Naruto huffed and sat back, arms folded as he placed them on the table in front of him. His expression died back down to his stoic, exhausted look, and his eyes cast towards the table in front of him. A moment of deliberation later, he looked up with his usual, characteristic grin. "So… you really want to know who she is, Inari?"

The boy grinned and nodded. "Yeah!"

"Well, since you won't stop bothering me about it," Naruto tilted his head to the side and rested it on his arms. He gave Inari his utmost attention, while the boy was still being kept seated by his beloved grandfather. "Her name is Tayuya, and she used to be a _very_ strong rival of mine… a… umm… training partner. While we were on a mission, we got into a little fight, and she hurt herself real bad."

"Oh! Okay!" Inari grinned, leaning forward with open ears. "But why did you bring her all the way out here? Why didn't you take her back to your village?"

"It was a top-secret, A-Rank mission that was very important, and since we would both get into trouble if anything happened to either of us, I had to take her here to get help." Naruto continued letting the exaggerated story flow from his mouth. He was certain that with how familiar a lot of people were with his former personality, as well as his occupation and antics that went along with it, he figured that the audience in front of him would buy his over-simplified story. After all, he wasn't at all convincing when he was acting all high and mighty.

Since when did he act down-to-earth, cool and intelligent in front of this family? Surely they knew that an exaggerated story from him was, in some ways, the absolute truth.

Inari nodded in understanding, with Tazuna simply smiling in approval.

"So… are you still on this… _top-secret_ mission?"

"Nope. We successfully completed it," Naruto smiled, answering the boy's question. "However, I was promised some time off when I finished, so I don't have to go back to Konoha right away."

"That's awesome! You can stay here for as long as you want then!"

"Whoa, Inari, slow down," Tazuna chuckled, patting him on the head. "He can stay if he wants to, but not for long. Naruto's still a ninja after all, and he'll have to go back to Konoha to complete more missions, and continue working hard to become Hokage, am I right?" The old man looked up at the still smiling blonde, who nodded his head affirmatively.

"That's my dream!" Naruto thumbed himself in the chest. "You're looking at the greatest ninja in the world, and the next leader of the _Village Hidden in the Leaves_, dattebayo!"

"I know you will accomplish your dream, Naruto-nii-san!" Inari laughed.

"You have so much faith in me, Inari."

"That's because you have so much faith in yourself and your friends!"

Naruto laughed and raised a fist to him. They bumped knuckles, and grinned respectively to one another.

"_Some things never change…" _Tazuna thought as he watched the boys begin yet another, animated discussion. It was truly a breath of fresh air.

* * *

Naruto and Inari could have talked all night.

Having not seen each other in ages, they had quite a bit of stories to tell. In fact, their tales were so rich with information that they only managed to get as far as to tell each other in spectacular detail about what happened a couple months after their life-changing events that occurred here in Wave Country.

It was at the intervention of Tsunami that stopped their conversation short of the real drama and action, and sent Inari off to bed, albeit stubbornly complaining that he wanted to spend more time with his friend.

Eventually, the kitchen was vacated of all but Naruto and Tazuna, with the doctor still working on Tayuya in the room opposite them. By this time, the sun had completely set, and the moon hung high up in the sky, shining brightly against the black background. The silence of the night drifted over the sleeping town of Wave and the home of the famed bridge builder and his guests.

Inside the small building, while the operation was going on strongly under bright lights, Naruto and Tazuna sat in the kitchen under candlelight. The old man drank from a new batch of imported Iwa Sake that had just arrived in the company of his visitor, and had been begging to be drunk all day. While on the other hand, the jinchuriki drank from a pot of freshly boiled jasmine tea. He and his host relished every sip of their beverages, and relaxed in the atmosphere the night brought them, with the sound of crickets echoing in the background.

While sharing pleasant grins, Tazuna couldn't help but carry the conversation further.

"You know, you really do seem different from the last time I saw you, kid," Tazuna exclaimed, tipping his sake cup towards the blonde. "You seem all… moody and depressed, like your other personality is more forced now. I couldn't really tell before, but now…"

"Is it really showing that much?"

"Yeah."

"I'm just tired," Naruto murmured. "I haven't slept for two days… and I don't think I plan on sleeping tonight."

"Why? Is something yankin' on your chain?"

"Yeah… sort of…"

"Well…" Tazuna shrugged and leaned forward. "Why don't you tell me about it? It's good to let things that are troubling you out."

"Hmm," Naruto murmured, scratching the back of his head. "It's… kind of a long story…"

The old man in front of him responded by shuffling his chair closer, and pouring himself another shot of sake. "My next meeting is next weekend, so I've got all night…"

"Alright then, if you're so insistent," Naruto said with a small smirk. Putting his hands together around his cup of tea, he stared at its contents for a moment, while at the same time, he gathered up the right words. He had to discern what facts were sensitive, as well as what facts were appropriate to divulge, in order for him to avoid problems in the future.

It didn't take him too long to compose his story.

"A few days ago, back in Konohagakure, Sasuke and I had a very… violent… disagreement over who was the strongest on our team. It was a fight solely between the two of us and… well… afterwards, he just… up and left the village. A team was sent to go after him when we found out he had gone, and I was a part of that team. Consequently, we chased him half-way across the entire country."

"And… I'm assuming this girl you dropped onto our doorstep, was somehow involved with Sasuke's reason for leaving the village," Tazuna deduced, piecing the things together he assumed, as well as what he was being told. This slightly astounded Naruto, but he didn't let it show on his exhausted expression.

"Geez, for a stinking drunk, you sure can add things together, old man."

"Hey, I may be drunk, but I don't stink," Tazuna poked back. He emphasized this by sniffing his arm-pit, and did a bit of a double-take. "Okay, I don't stink that much. Regardless, I'm no light weight. Please…" He leant back into his chair and gestured to the boy with his glass. "Continue."

"Okay. Well, yeah… Tayuya _was_ a part of the two groups that fought each other over Sasuke, but I'm not going to say which one she was a part of," Naruto sighed and propped his head up on his arm and then on the table. "My friends ended up fighting the guys that were guarding Sasuke, and while they went at it, I chased after the teme myself. We ended up battling each other at the _Valley of the End_, where those two huge statues of the First Hokage and that Uchiha founder stood. Man… I tell yah, it was a heck of a clash…"

"And… how did it end?"

"It was a tie," Naruto replied, glancing up at the old man. "I let Sasuke walk, and I went on my own way. I found Tayuya lying half-dead and seriously injured in the forest, and knowing it would cause me problems if I brought her back to my village, I decided to come here. You are one of the only people I can really trust with this outside of Konoha…"

"So… judging from the limited details of your story… I'm going to venture a guess that… she was an enemy of yours?"

"Not anymore," Naruto nodded his head. "I can guarantee it …"

"Very well," Tazuna took another drink. "As long as she doesn't cause us any trouble, I can allow her to stay for as long as she wants."

"Don't let it get to you, old man. Remember, Zabuza and Haku were enemies too, but they were really nice guys," the blonde pointed, refreshing some old memories of past events, and bringing them to the surface. "That reminds me, I have to go visit their graves and pay my respects to them… it's been a long time."

"Please do so," Tazuna smiled at him. "It can get pretty lonely up there…"

"Yeah…"

There was a moment of silence, which left Tazuna staring at a rather crest-fallen Naruto. The blonde, still looking extremely tired and mentally drained, glanced up at the old man. He didn't even spare a grin or smile, when he spoke up again, relinquishing more weight from his shoulders.

"Hey, old man…"

"What is it?"

"What is it like… to lose someone precious to you?"

Tazuna blinked at his words in surprise.

He took some time to think about it, during which, he poured himself another glass and allowed the liquid to swirl around in its vessel. After watching the ripple come to a gentle rest on the surface of his drink, voice returned to him, and the old bridge builder spoke in an effort to comfort Naruto's obviously restless soul.

"So that's what's troubling you?" Tazuna furrowed his brow, earning a nod from the boy. "I may not have experienced loss like you ninja, given your occupations, but I _have_ lost a lot of friends and family. Heck, my only family left is my daughter and grandson, and a lot of my best friends whom I treasured deeply are no longer around. Though I don't talk about it much… deep down… it still hurts…"

"Really…?"

"Yeah."

"Can I ask… how it's been?"

"Years now, kid."

"Mmm…"

Not one of their usual conversations, but at least Naruto was able to get a small amount of closure…

* * *

An hour later of more talking, particularly on where Naruto could later get some suitable clothes for Tayuya and himself, the doctor exited the room where he had been operating on his now docile patient, and joined Naruto and Tazuna in the kitchen. The blonde Genin literally rose to his feet the moment he spotted Shuhei at the kitchen entrance. At the same time, he noted the man's slightly blood stained uniform, while the doctor removed the mask from around his face to begin a proper debrief.

The boy had been on edge the entire time, and it showed by the way he was presently acting.

"Well?"

"Don't worry, son, she's going to pull through just fine," Shuhei replied, earning a sigh from the Genin. The man walked round the table and over to the sink, removing his gloves and washing his hands under hot water.

"Her legs…?"

"I was able to clean them, stitch up the most serious of wounds, and realign the bones in the thighs and calves. Her knees were, for the most part, fine, but they were placed under severe stress from the incident that left her in that condition. I've placed casts on her legs to make sure that they heal correctly." Drying off his hands, he then turned around to face the pair behind him, his expression serious.

"Now, this is the part where I recommend that she be placed in a wheelchair for the next three months for her to properly recover. However, knowing you ninja, and given how stubborn she is, she'll probably be up and about on crutches. So I got her some…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "_Fucking crutches_ for her to move around in at her leisure, her words, not mine."

Naruto had to chuckle at that, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that…"

Shuhei shook his head and waved a hand at the apology. "That's quite alright, son. I've had worse…"

"So… how long did you say it would take for her to fully recover?" Naruto asked.

"Well, seeing as how you ninja have a faster healing rate then most people, I'd say that if she were to stay off of her legs for as much as possible, they should be fine in just over a month. However, if she's going to be traveling with you, then it might take a month and a half or close to two," Shuhei stated, folding his arms. "I'll give her some shots to help with the healing process and to dull the pain. In all honesty, I'm quite surprised at her. To have her legs in that condition and not so much as utter a few curses… she should have been hollering her throat out of place." He shook his head at the memories of the operation.

"She did at first… but… then she just sort of went with it," the blonde shrugged. This earned a small grin from the doctor.

"Like I said, she's _stubborn_." He pulled himself off of leaning on the kitchen desk, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a couple of pill bottles and handed it to the boy. "The vitamins will help with the muscles and bone, and the other is to help with the infection in her throat, I'm assuming was from her crushed ribs. Have her take one of each, once a day, after breakfast."

"Okay." Naruto looked at the pill containers in his hands, before glancing back up at the doctor. "I wasn't able to do much on her legs though, only sling them up."

"That's fine, kid," the doctor patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "You did well, and her ribs and lungs healed fine, thanks to your 'miracle' kiss." Naruto blushed at that, wondering if Tayuya told the man anything more about what had happened. He didn't want to get too into detail about it, and spare himself untold embarrassment.

Unfortunately, Tazuna couldn't help grinning wildly on the sidelines.

"I'm also glad you got her here quickly; otherwise she would have had some serious problems if her condition was left untreated." He pocketed his hands as he looked down at the blonde. "She needs plenty of rest and time to recover, so take good care of her."

"Thank you so much," Naruto said, putting the medicine in his pocket. "I… I don't know how I can repay you for this…"

"Hey, don't sweat it. You and your friends did so much for us, it was the least I could do," Shuhei exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders. "After you freed us from Gato, you opened up a whole new world of opportunity for the country and its people. Now we no longer have to tolerate his goons or be oppressed by his empire."

"Well… I still feel I should repay you, some how…"

"Just keep her out of trouble, kid. That's all I'm asking," the doctor replied with a smile and a nod. This earned one in return from the blonde, who shook hands with the kind-hearted miracle worker.

Clapping his hands together, Shuhei then looked over at Tazuna, who was also on his feet and listening in on the conversation. His head gesture told those present that his work was done for the day.

"If you don't need me anymore, Tazuna-san, I have to get going. I don't want to keep the missus waiting, and I have to get up for work tomorrow…"

"Thanks for the help, old friend," the bridge builder exclaimed, leading Shuhei out of the kitchen, hand on his shoulders.

Before the pair completely vacated the premises, the surgeon turned to look back at Naruto, to see him standing by the table with a questioning look on his face. He immediately took that as a sign of eagerness to go see his friend, and grinned.

"It's okay, kid. You can go in and see her. She's asleep at the moment, so try not to wake her," Shuhei said, waving back at him. "I'll be back to check up on her at the end of this week. So try not to go anywhere…"

"Okay," Naruto waved back, before watching Tazuna as he escorted his friend out. Once the area was empty, the blonde then quickly made his way to Tayuya's room, and quietly slipped in to see her sound asleep on the bed, her arm attached to an IV to help replenish her fluids.

Making himself comfortable on the hardwood floor next to her, he crossed his legs and folded his arms. Assuming a meditative position, the Genin closed his eyes tightly and focused on keeping his mind blank, hoping to get some sleep.

Unfortunately for him, it was going to be a long night.

Fortunately though, at least he was with his new friend…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	5. The Past Returns

_**Author's Note: **__Please... no more comments on grammer or spelling. I'm only interested in how the story is going. Thank you._

___

* * *

_

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The Past Returns_

_**That very next day…**_

Naruto was knocked out of his reverie when he was unexpectedly slapped across the face and sent tumbling to the ground. Cheek stinging and eyes watering, the boy glared up at the redhead responsible for the unexpected attack, and was now sitting up in her bed, smirking at the blonde as he lay awkwardly next to her futon.

Clearly amused at the sight, not to mention giggled up over the opportunity to slap him again, which he took head-long, Tayuya folded her arms and grinned at him. Though he was a bit stunned and dazed from the hit, it didn't completely affect his motor skills. So, once again previewing his accelerated healing capabilities, the groaning boy pushed himself back up into a comfortable seated position, and scowled his friend.

"Morning, shithead," Tayuya grinned, watching as the blonde rubbed the side of his face.

"Is there any particular reason why you slapped me?"

"No…" The kunoichi casually shrugged her shoulders and shuffled a bit under her covers. "I just felt like it. Simple as that! Besides, how else was I going to say _thank you_ for everything you've done for me?"

"By slapping me? Seriously?"

"Well… yeah…" The girl looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Why? How else could I have shown my gratitude?"

"I don't know," Naruto murmured with a slight smile, hand still pressed against the red side of his face. Hilariously enough, the imprint on his cheek was shaped like a hand, "Perhaps a hug would have been better, or a verbal 'thank you' that doesn't exert any effort whatsoever… a hand-shake… a kiss… take your pick."

The next thing he felt the moment he finished his sentence was the girl's hand pressed up against his face, a second later before he was pushed over. Tayuya grinned wildly as she watched him tumble backwards like a bowling pin for the second time this morning.

"Don't get any ideas," the young teen smirked. "Be grateful it was only a slap."

Slowly getting back up by propping himself up on his elbows, Naruto smirked weakly. "Okay, I guess I can live with that then."

Placing his arms comfortably on his legs, he watched as Tayuya did the same, and they both shared a friendly smile with one another. Before either of them could move on to discuss further business, the kunoichi, in a fit of curiosity, peaked under her covers to inspect the new state of her legs. She furrowed her brow when she saw that both of her limbs were wrapped up in heavy casts, and were secured for transport.

It was a poor sight, particularly for a shinobi.

"Fuck… how long did he say I would be like this? I was sort of out of it when he was fixing me up…" Noticing the IV still plugged into her arm, she followed it up to the plasma bag hanging beside her. Seeing that it was empty, in an undignified manner, she pulled the needle out, and allowed the small hole to heal itself up.

Naruto ignored the hasty method in which she used to remove the syringe, but didn't question it. He didn't like needles himself, after all.

"He said your legs should be fully healed in about a month and a half, as long as you try to stay off of them," Naruto replied, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the two pill bottles he was given. Tayuya looked down at them when he held them out to her, and studied their labels. "Here. He said for you to take these, once a day after breakfast."

Considering the medication for a moment, the redhead didn't argue against it. She simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Thanks…" Tayuya took the medicine from him, thus relinquishing him of yet another small burden. It was her responsibility to take these now.

The kunoichi looked down at the bottles more closely, and snorted when she got a full preview of what the descriptions entailed. "Meh… it's not as bad as I originally thought…"

"Just try to relax and enjoy yourself. We'll be here for some time," Naruto exclaimed, a small smile appearing on his face. Quickly searching the ground around him, his hands quickly fell on the items he was looking for. Wordlessly, he brought around the two crutches the doctor had left for her, and placed them precisely next to her futon for easier access. "If you want to… or if you're up to it, I can show you around the village."

"Huh?" the redhead blinked in surprise. The proposition, amongst everything else that could have been said this morning, was the last thing she expected to hear. She figured breakfast would have come first. "Really? I mean… is it okay for me to… I don't know… start _hobbling_ around now? After the God damn surgery… I figured it would take some time before I can…"

"He mentioned you'd rather use crutches instead of a wheelchair when you came round, so he believes you're fine for a bit of walking."

Tayuya considered the items beside her for a moment, as well as the prospect of her finally being able to use her own strength to stand for a change. She was tired, but at the same time, the sights around town beckoned her to explore. It didn't take her long to arrive at an answer, and with her curiosity and determination ultimately influencing her decision, she pulled away the blankets covering her. With a grunt, she grabbed the walking aids sitting at her side and forced herself to her feet.

After a few seconds of struggling, Naruto saw her predicament, and quickly stepped in to help. Taking one of her arms and resting it over his shoulders, he pulled both of them up.

With one of her crutches placed comfortably under her shoulder, Tayuya attempted a stride with it, and nearly fell flat over from the effort. If the blonde hadn't been there to take her weight, she would have face-planted the floor.

"Fuck! My whole body is stiff…"

"Your muscles aren't used to the changes yet, and you're still recovering. Just be patient," Naruto murmured. This earned an understanding nod from the girl, and instead of following the known metaphor of 'running before walking', opted to hang in there for a bit.

"Easy for you to say."

With both her legs shot out, it was making the task of even hobbling a difficult venture.

However, unwilling to say no, the redhead forced herself into movement again, and with a crutch on her left and Naruto on her right, she managed to make it to the living-room entrance with a little less trouble compared to the very start.

It was here that they bumped into Inari.

The youngster had woken up with a spring in his step and a song in his voice and as soon as he was completely registered to the day at hand, he immediately rushed down to meet with Naruto for a day of play. Hence, when he arrived at the living room, he met both Naruto and Tayuya staggering through the corridor towards the front door. The glowing child grinned brightly the moment he saw his favorite ninja and company, and stood at attention as the pair walked into view.

"Nii-san!"

"Hey, Inari," Naruto grinned, his old façade coming back into play. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if you wanted to go out and have some fun today? Run around, train, beat up ninja dummies…"

"Ninja dummies?" Tayuya queried curiously.

"Yeah! Like… scarecrows dressed up as ninja; we can punch and kick them, and tackle them to the ground!" Inari stated, using gestures to help describe the actions as he punched the air excitedly. "Come on, Naruto! It'll be fun!"

"Hey… that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Naruto exclaimed. He smiled over at Tayuya hanging from his shoulders, who was still watching the child in front of them with curiosity. "Do you want to kick the snot out of some wooden targets?"

"Screw you. I can't move!" Tayuya snapped back, earning a chuckle from the blonde, who smiled back down at the bridge-builder's grandson. When Naruto's attention averted, Tayuya couldn't help but ask herself, "What the hell is a ninja dummy?"

"Maybe another time, Inari. I was just going to take Tayuya out and show her around town."

This news had the younger boy's grin visibly falter, with all excitement of the prospects of play leaving him. His change in mood didn't escape the blonde Genin's notice. So in an effort to make up for both parties, Naruto threw out a different proposal on the floor for everyone's consideration.

"Hey, since you're here Inari, do you mind taking us out to the village to help us find some shops that sell clothing? We need to buy some new stuff to wear…"

It was hard to ignore the tattered attire Tayuya wore, as well as the drab and dirty orange uniform Naruto continued to adorn. Furthermore, the smell didn't help them much either.

After hearing Naruto's new suggestion, Inari's face lit up, following a complete lap of emotions in just under a minute.

"Sure… I know just the place!"

* * *

_**After two hours of staggered walking…**_

_**And an hour of browsing…**_

Naruto felt that both he and Tayuya were making excellent progress on the shopping thus far, as well as the walking, which was slowly improving. As the redhead was still adjusting to her new legs and the extra pair that were helping her to stand, she arguably refused to remain in the same spot and wait for Naruto to be through with whatever window shopping he wanted to do. So, when they eventually arrived in town after about twenty breathers, and made it to the stop that Inari had led them to, Tayuya gratefully collapsed on the nearest chair.

From her bench, she asked for Naruto to go around the retail store to find her something tasteful for her. This made the ordeal a little bit more difficult, since both of them had barely any money to begin with. However, thanks to having his favorite frog wallet pocketed, and at the manager's insistence, they were allowed to buy whatever they wanted for a manageable price, with the first few items being free.

While Naruto buried himself into a rack of jackets and Inari sat right beside her, checking out some new shoes, Tayuya looked around the store aimlessly. Though she was interested in a few shirts hanging some ways away, she really just wanted to rest, and let the blonde find whatever he needed.

However, in the middle of his rummaging, the redhead couldn't help but pop a question for him.

"Why the hell are these people so nice to you?" the former Sound kunoichi asked, catching the boy's attention and forcing him to glance over his shoulder and away from his cataloging of items. "It's not like you're some hotshot, worldwide celebrity or anything. Why the hell are they giving you so much leeway on their goods?"

"Well… it's a little bit different around here," Naruto shrugged in an unconcerned manner. "Since my team basically saved the entire country, we became heroes. I guess… I never really expected to get so much praise. It's… kind of a new thing for me."

Tayuya shook her head when she watched him return to sorting through the stuff on display. When he poked his head through to the other side, the boy delved even deeper out of sight into the isles of clothing. Seconds later, he pulled himself out, with a couple of jackets hanging from his shoulders, as if he had been swimming in material. Naruto turned around, and with a haughty look, held up a top for the girl to judge.

It was on first glance, the kunoichi discovered to her horror at what the boy had actually chosen.

"PINK!"

Naruto grinned proudly. "Yup!"

Looking at it closely, it wasn't the overall color that was the most shocking element of the top; it was the entire shirt in general. A pink, over-sized T-shirt with a trim that could even compensate for a skirt, added with red linings along the cuffs, and a big love-heart on the front with an arrow poking through it. When Naruto turned it around to give it a proper profile, he showed her the word 'BADASS' inscribed on the back of it, in **bold **no less.

It was truly a miserable sight, especially for the beige wearing redhead sitting near feet away from it.

"You're not seriously going to wear that?" she asked, as if it were the most incredulous thing in the world.

The blonde responded to this with an odd look and a blink. Obviously, it didn't occur to her at what his main intentions were.

"What? No… it's for you…"

Tayuya's jaw nearly dropped straight through the floor. "Are you really that stupid? There's no way I'm going to wear that washed up, glow-in-the-dark, poor excuse for a shirt in this life or the next. Hell, I wouldn't even use it as toilet paper!"

Naruto furrowed his brow. "I thought girls liked pink."

It was at this assumption that the redhead replied in her typical, impulsive manner. Grabbing the sandal Inari was holding, she ditched it at the spiky haired Genin, hitting him squarely between the eyes and toppling him into the rack of jackets, literally knocking both of them over. The commotion attracted the attention of the customers, who simply glanced around to check out what the scuffle was all about. However, they quickly lost interest, as they were ninja, and even the employees' paid little mind to the noise.

All they did was laugh at the sight of the orange haired boy sprawled out over the carpet of clothing, looking dazed and confused.

"Well… I DON'T LIKE PINK, _JACK ASS_!" Tayuya shouted. Naruto looked up at her with swirly eyes, and the imprint of a shoe slapped on his stupid looking face. "Find me something with khaki or purple in it! If you can't do that, don't even bother." She looked away with a huff and her arms crossed.

"Geez… no need to get mad," Naruto groaned, picking himself up and out of the pile of jackets, dusting himself down. "I was just guessing. I mean… Sakura-chan really likes pink and red…"

"Well, unlike your teammate, I have different preferences," Tayuya snapped back, glancing over at him. "I don't mind red, but pink is a big _**no**_."

"Okay, okay… say no more…" Naruto waved at her, while reached down to pick up the display trolley he had unintentionally knocked over in his fall. Once it was up, he immediately set aside the pink shirt, before disappearing into the tree of jackets and tops.

While he was gone, Tayuya continued to sit, seemingly impatiently, waiting for the next article the boy came out with. She was hoping that the next collection he found for her was at least tasteful, so that she wouldn't have to pummel him for the wrong sort. During this period of thought, she turned her attention to Inari, who was looking up at her, flabbergasted. The redhead raised an eyebrow at him, but then looked away, hoping he would avert his gaze.

A few minutes of unbearable silence later, she then glared back at the child in annoyance, to see him still staring up at her.

"What?"

"Nice throw, sis," Inari commented.

The youngster grinned, and raised a hand up to her in an offering of congratulations.

Quickly registering to his congratulatory gesture, as well as to what had transpired beforehand, Tayuya grinned, and 'high-fived' him.

Naruto returned a few seconds later with several different items in hand for Tayuya to pick out. He had to browse through most of the store to acquire what he had in mind for her, and because the stuff she was interested in wasn't nearby, he had to widen his exploration significantly. Of course, after studying Tayuya's outlook a bit more closely, he was able to venture a more accurate guess as to what her preferences were, and had spared no effort in his quest to please the trouble-minded kunoichi. He piled together a series of different shirts, singlets and high-collar stuff, as well as a jacket or two and long pants. He avoided everything bright, drab, and, simply put, skirt-like…

_**Especially**_ skirt-like.

Most of the kunoichi he knew didn't wear skirts.

Furthermore, he didn't want the next thing thrown in his face to be the high-heels sitting within arms reach of the girl.

The redhead slowly went through one piece of clothing after another, her expression rarely changing from its disinterested look, the occasional curious blink, or its impressed glance, as each top and bottom passed through her delicate hands. She took her time admiring the fabrics between her fingers, and occasionally running her nose through them. The redhead even spared a moment of thought for each of the small logos she could find, or lack of them on each item. At the same time, Naruto stood by patiently with his arms folded, weary of every movement the girl made.

While he knew her actions were hindered by her injuries, he still recognized her surprising speed, and made sure to pay careful attention to her hands, in case they made a move for either the high-heels or the cleats on the wall to her right.

Soon enough, there was a large pile of clothes sitting discarded on Tayuya's side, while a small bundle of the materials she did have an eye for, sat comfortably on her lap.

The kunoichi had decided to go with a couple of khaki T-shirts, a few really dark purple tops, and three different pairs of black-spandex shorts, one with long legs, one that was cut exactly at the knees, and one cut up above them. She folded up the select few, and let them sit on her thighs for processing.

"I'll take these…"

"Ah, okay!" Naruto exclaimed, relieved that the ordeal was over.

"I… would also like a belt or a pouch… or something similar…" Tayuya looked around, trying to find the items in question, or anything that would catch her eye. "Maybe even a hat."

"I'll try and find a hat for you," Naruto smiled, walking over to the pile she had discarded and picking them up in the bundle that they were in. "We can get a belt and other accessories over at the _Ninja Utility Store_, so we can stop there for those later…"

"Hmph," came Tayuya's undignified reply.

Naruto then went off to shop for himself. True to his character, he immediately knew what he wanted; something with _orange_.

The moment he walked into the area where the shop keeper sold all of the aforementioned, brightly colored shirts and pants, he discovered to his discontent that they were all cut-down and half-priced already. This revelation sort of put a dampener on his plans on purchasing materials that were _**too**_ orange, and instead went for something else.

Something useful for his line of work…

I mean, how much orange could a ninja really wear before he was killed?

He directed most of his attention to something with black; a color he knew would be perfect while fighting in the dark. So he picked out several, standard issue black pants often worn by Jonin, three shirts in white, orange and maroon, a couple of the latter colored turtle-necks, and a couple of black, turtle-necked jumpers. He then picked out a pair of dark grey sandals for himself, and a pair for Tayuya he assumed would fit.

He knew foot sizes, and sandals were adjustable, regardless.

When he went up to purchase the items up at the desk with the manager, he spared himself a moment of thought. While he was laying out the clothes for scanning, he considered his idea several times over, before eventually making the small inquiry.

"Excuse me…" Naruto cleared his throat. "Do you think I can also get a custom winter jacket around here?"

"Sure thing, young man. What exactly did you have in mind?" the manager asked, pausing from his cataloging of the clothing being purchased by the Genin.

"Well… I'm not sure whether it is possible or not, but I'm looking for something _really_ tough and durable, and made to last," Naruto explained, using hand gestures to help him with the description by tugging on his own tattered jacket, which ripped a bit. "Do you have something that can withstand close-range stabs from knives and swords; maybe a Kevlar vest or something similar?"

The manager rubbed his chin in contemplation, and he began mentally going over the stock that he had in. He knew his store from top to bottom, and had intimate knowledge of the materials he imported and exported in the back room. During which time he looked around, while his young customer stood, eagerly waiting for an answer. It didn't take the brown haired, suit wearing gentleman long to arrive at a conclusion, and he looked towards the blonde with an apprehensive look on his face.

"I'm not sure about jackets or vests, but I have a couple of trench coats out back, made up of a similar fiber, which is much lighter then Kevlar," the man responded. "It should be ideal for a ninja like you…"

"Is it tasteful?"

"It's black with an orange trim," The manager then sprouted a smile. "Judging from your choice of clothing, it might actually suit you. Hold on a second, I'll go grab them…" The boss disappeared from the counter, leaving one of the employees to sort through the rest of the items Naruto was purchasing, and packaged them in light bundles.

While Naruto passed the time by double-checking his goods, Tayuya and Inari played rock-paper-scissors in the background. Hilariously enough, against the kunoichi, Inari was winning. The redhead cursed out loud every time she was beaten, to which the boy giggled happily and threw his arms in the air in triumph.

"YATTA!"

"Damn you, kid!" Tayuya grumbled, shaking a fist at him. "When we get back to your place, we're playing _Naho_! Then we'll see who has the last laugh!"

A minute or so afterwards, the manager came back round with a small batch of coats hanging over his arms. He laid them out one by one over the counter, revealing three trench coats of three different sizes, all of them adorned in the same color and trim. Naruto looked from the smallest to the largest in his analysis, and picked up the middle one. Feeling the material beneath his fingers, he looked up at the man who brought these out for him, to see him looking them over as well with a hand on his hip, and another running over his mustache in thought.

"They're all brand new, double-stitched, combat robes designed for Samurai, but they should fit you _just_ fine. They're also tough. That I know very well to be true," he stated.

"They're made up of nano-threads," Naruto informed, recognizing the material as similar to the wire he was bound in when Sasuke attempted to roast his body at their battle near the waterfall. "Only… these feel more… _natural_."

"Like I said, they're perfect for you ninja," the man exclaimed with a small smile. "The threads replicate the same wire that you often use in your jutsu, and are practically unbreakable. However, the material weaved together to create these coats are more refined, and much stronger then Kevlar."

The manager emphasized this fact by picking up one of the coats before him, and reached underneath the counter for something sharp. Pulling out a kunai he had hidden for personal defense, he attempted to cut and stab through the material in question… _several times_. As Naruto plainly witnessed, the abuse the coats suffered didn't leave any marks or damage in them at all. Even when the manager vigorously tried to slice through them and rip them in two, his efforts produced nothing.

"It's also highly shock absorbent and fireproof. Weapons won't even damage your skin through the material, which is why this is so good," the manager stated, handing him the coat he was holding. "If you wish to test it out yourself, go ahead."

Naruto did as suggested, placing the cloth of the coat over his hand on the desk and pulling out the one kunai he still had in his possession. Without warning or hesitation, he thrust the knife down onto the cloth full force, straight down onto his hand, only for the material to stop the blade dead. He did this a couple more times, but it was like trying to cut through wood with safety scissors. He looked up at the manager to see him grinning, and removed the cloth from over his hand to see not a scratch, but a small red dot from where he had been hitting.

No cuts or flesh wounds whatsoever.

"Only a bruise, but no biggy," Naruto smirked, and then held the trench coat he was holding up to the man behind the counter. "So this comes in medium and large, right?"

"Yup."

"I'll take the three of them," the blonde exclaimed. "I'll use the medium size for now, and grow into the larger ones. If not, I can make a few adjustments myself."

"Sure thing, kid."

"Oh. And this is meant to last?"

"Hey, I've had these things for years, and they're still going strong."

"Wow…"

Naruto used whatever he had on hand to pay for the goods, but the manager gave him a good deal on the lot, and so he only ended up having to pay 30 percent for what the stuff was actually worth. Really, the Genin couldn't thank the man enough, but he simply replied, saying that he and his team had done so much more for them.

With that done, and with both Tayuya and Inari in tow, the group then headed for their next destination.

But not before stopping by at the local noodle bar for some lunch.

The time that followed was spent categorizing their clothes, as well as reflecting on past events between the three of them.

The two ninja, one part broke and the other crippled, shared some of their most exhilarating tales with Inari to entertain him, but left out the more sensitive and gory-detail oriented areas. After all, they didn't want to give the kid nightmares. Furthermore, the two continued to learn that little _bit_ more about each other, mostly on the missions they had undertaken, alongside their respective teammates.

One of the main patterns both parties recognized in the other's history was that they both had quarrels or strange relationships with their teammates. While Naruto learned that Tayuya's most relished pastime was beating up on the other male members of the _Sound Four_, she learned in kind about how the blonde endlessly berated Sasuke Uchiha (and received the same verbal abuse in kind), and how he had _had_ a long-term crush and undying respect for Sakura Haruno.

That hour proved to be quite amusing.

Eventually, the three of them packed up their gear and went on to the supply store, where they aimed to purchase ninja equipment to replenish their supplies. Naruto knew that he had to stretch his money out as much as possible, until he found some jobs or freelance mission to fill in the ryo he was spending.

Inari met up with Akane and his friends on the way to the store, and instead of proceeding on the intended path, decided to go with them, while promising to meet up with Naruto later that day. Bidding farewell to the bridge builder's grandson, and now on their own, the two shinobi continued on to the supply store.

It was pretty much smooth sailing from there, with Tayuya getting more and more used to trudging along on her own. This adaptation to her crutches showed significantly as she staggered around the store to look at the various exotic weapons hanging off the walls and on display in the cabinets. She was particularly interested in the melody flutes they had lying around, including a large bokken with flute holes pocked into it.

In the meantime, Naruto restocked his empty pouches.

He decided to go with two loads, asking for a hundred kunai and shuriken a piece. If there was anything Naruto had learned from his time as a ninja of Konohagakure, was that weapons, above everything else, were the cheapest resource you could possibly purchase. He also added to his arsenal by loading up on explosive notes and other custom tags, with lengths of wire, tantos, and bayonets accompanying. He also made sure to buy himself some camping supplies, and got the entire lot for a good deal.

Tayuya also found some weapons of interest for herself, including some oddly curved kunai and a machete. Naruto bought her the equipment, as well as some bells, a whistle, and a melody sword; an interesting, dao like sword that made a noise depending on the ferocity and direction of the swing.

"Why the hell did you buy me this piece of shit?" she asked, looking down at the poor looking whistle in her hand as she staggered down the street, hanging off of Naruto. The blonde was basically carrying everything in one huge bag on his back, and another at his side, but didn't seem tired of all.

At least he was staying true to his phenomenal stamina.

The Genin grinned at her. "It's a dog whistle. Use it wisely. You'll never know when it might come in handy."

Tayuya simply shook her head at him and looked away with a huff.

"Idiot…"

* * *

_**An hour later…**_

_**Back at Tazuna's home…**_

With Tsunami spending some quality time of her own in the dining room and Tazuna sleeping soundly up in his bed, this left Naruto and Tayuya alone in the lounge room, where they sat around the center futon, and quietly went over their newly bought stuff.

No useless material; just everything they needed if they were going to be traveling around in the future.

Among the equipment deposited around the room, the most recognizable were their clothes, all folded up neatly and in piles beside them. Also surrounding them were their pouches purchased filled with their weapons, and two bags of camping gear. Of course, while they were pretty much set for whatever the wilderness could throw at them, both of them were presently doing two completely different things.

Accompanying the goods Naruto had purchased for Tayuya was a pipe cleaner, as well as some polish and a cloth, and at that very moment, the kunoichi was busy cleaning out her flute. Buffing it, as well as checking to make sure that it hadn't suffered any significant damages; Tayuya made with absolute certainty, that it was battle ready and playable. Blowing a couple of notes from it, she was confident that through it, she was at least capable of defending herself, amongst other things.

While the former Sound Nin inspected the small snip, which was cut off at the end of her flute by Temari's Wind Release technique several days ago, Naruto was busy playing around with the weapons he had bought.

The moment he arrived back at Inari's home, and after depositing Tayuya and their stuff in the living room, he went off, had a quick shower, and ditched his old clothes, emptying his pockets beforehand.

With his old attire gone and out of his life for good, Naruto changed into his new outfit, consisting of black pants, sandals, a maroon turtle-neck, long-sleeved shirt, and a black turtle-neck jumper over that. Needless to say, he was pretty warm, but that didn't bother him. At least he was comfortable.

Adorned in his new look, the boy became engrossed in all of his newly bought equipment. It was all good quality to. At this time of the day, he was currently adjusting a shoulder holster to one of his trench coats for quick access, and along with it, sheathed a bayonet or short blade into the leather to test it out. It was an odd knife, with a thin, silver blade, and a kunai handle on the end, but Naruto liked it. It was small and simple.

Fastening it tightly, the blonde held the jacket up in front of him and gave it a shake to make sure that the attachments didn't fall off. When he was satisfied, he set it down, smiling proudly and folding his arms, as he analyzed the coat lying on the ground in front of him with a thoughtful gaze.

"Mm-hm… okay… well… at least it works…" he shrugged.

He completely ignored the fact that he had made a big mess around him, in his effort to perfect his attire, with the bandoleers and pouches he had bought scattered everywhere. On the other hand, Tayuya's side was pretty clean.

"I think it looks flashy…"

"It would be so much better without the orange," Tayuya murmured, putting away her cleaning materials back into their case.

Naruto face-planted the carpet.

"Is that all you can say?" he nearly cried out in distress. "Doesn't anything else matter?"

"I just don't understand why you went with that… poor excuse of a color!" the redhead pointed out amusingly. This earned a scowl from the Genin.

"Well, at least it's better then purple!"

"Hey, purple is a great color," Tayuya folded her arms, firmly asserting her position. "It's a royal color, so it beats your deadbeat league by miles."

"At least mine's bright and cheerful. It represents balance, enthusiasm, and energy! Yours is all moody and depressing," Naruto snapped back rather childishly.

"Oh-ho. Are you challenging me?"

At that moment however, before the two of them could clash verbal knives, they were interrupted by the sound of the front door flying open, and hurried footsteps rushing down the hallway. Both of them looked over to the living room entrance, just in time to see Inari's friend, Akane, appear from round the corner, panting and sweating bullets.

"N-Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Akane? What is it?" The blonde rose to his feet at the sight of the visibly distraught and exhausted boy.

The boy's state, for the most part, didn't represent a good prospect.

"The… bridge! Come quick!" The youngster pointed in the direction he had come from, at the same time, trying to catch his breath. "Inari has been taken… and is being held by two… ninja… at the archway…"

"Ninja?" Tayuya murmured.

"Who are they? What do they look like?" Naruto asked, wanting to know as much about the culprits before he rushed off to deal with the situation.

Akane just shook his head, slapping himself in the face as he tried to remember anything specific.

"I… I don't know. But they're big, dark and mean. They look alike, and they're both wearing gas masks with headbands." He then held his hands up to his forehead, and drew invisible markings which the blonde followed. "There were four small lines on their headbands, like corners on a square…"

The two shinobi present blinked in surprise and turned towards each other.

"Ninja from the _Village Hidden in the Mist_," Tayuya stated.

"And not just any…" Naruto replied, an image of the two described, appearing in his head. He quickly swooped up the trench coat he was working on from the floor, and ran for the door without another word, leaving Tayuya hanging on his words.

But before he completely vacated the premises, he back-tracked and ran for the kitchen. A surprised Tsunami had little time to respond, when the blonde unexpectedly dove for her cabinet, and grabbed a bottle of some sorts, before dashing out, his apology echoing out with him.

* * *

_**Several minutes later…**_

_**The Great Naruto Bridge…**_

"Let me go you brutes!" Inari roared, thrashing against his rope binds as he attempted to get himself loose. Unfortunately, having his hands and legs tied, as well as most of his body, didn't help him much, and all he could do was flop around uselessly on the floor.

The individuals responsible for him being in this situation in the first place couldn't help but laugh at his predicament.

The kidnappers had taken up position on the Wave Country's side of the bridge just passed the archway entrance, where they maintained a vigilant, intimidating position. A crowd of villagers have gathered safely out of harms way, and were all cramming under the arch to see what the commotion was about. Those at the front were first to learn that it was a hostage situation, and began chattering nervously, fearful for the person's life.

Though they wanted to save the boy being held captive by the Missing Nin, nobody present dared cross to face the pair.

After all, the _Demon Brothers_ weren't pushovers.

"Give it up brat," Gozu snapped back at the child lying at his feet, stomping his foot down on him to stop him from rolling about. Arms crossed, he grinned angrily down at Inari through his snorkel. "The way you're tied up, you're not going anywhere."

"Bite me!"

"Shut up," the older brother then rolled the youngster over onto his stomach, and stomped on his back, earning a yelp of pain from the child. Frustrated at the effort it took the capture the boy, and annoyed at his constant wailing, Gozu then looked up at his younger brother, who was standing by in support, arms also folded. "Well… what now?"

"We wait," Meizu exclaimed. "I saw this kid hanging around with that Konoha brat about town. If those two really are friends, I'm sure that that stupid poor example of a shinobi will show up sooner or later to rescue this pest."

"Hmph," Gozu murmured and looked away. "I bet this is going to be another waste of our time. All we have to do is fight the brat, kill him, and then waste _**this**_ boy for being such an inconvenience." He kicked Inari over onto his back, showing just how inconsiderate the older brother was to children. "Plain and simple payback for our shameful defeat. I was hoping to deal with that other kid with the black hair for his involvement, but I guess when you ask for apples, you get bananas."

"I couldn't agree more," the younger brother laughed.

"You guys are going to regret this!" Inari shouted up at the two Chunin standing around and shadowing him. "Nii-san will beat the snot out of both of you! Just watch!"

"I said, _**shut it**_ brat!" Gozu kicked him in the side, earning another yelp from Inari. The blow hushed him up for the time being. "Dammit, this kid is irritating."

While the two were leering down at the bridge builder's grandson and contemplating on what to do with him to get him to shut his mouth permanently, there was a commotion up ahead. The noise of the crowd caused them to look up, where they saw the blonde boy they had been aiming to lure out all this time, walking towards them.

Striding through the large archway, and crossing the threshold into danger, Naruto stopped short of the two Chunin, keeping a distance of about twenty meters from them, and glared the pair down angrily.

Gozu and Meizu grinned when their quarry arrived, and carelessly stepped over the boy they were holding hostage. As instincts called, the twins took up a defensive and opposing position before the Genin, and smirked confidently.

With his coat draped over his shoulders and worn securely, the outfit blew about in a light breeze that picked up. At the same time, a cluster of leaves blew in between the two parties, adding the refining details to this classic stand off.

"It's you," Naruto murmured, furrowing his brow at the pair contesting against him.

"Ah. So you remember us, brat?" Meizu chuckled.

"I'm not surprised. It's not hard to forget about the people who scared the living daylights out of you, and nearly ended your life, is it?" Gozu queried mockingly, placing his hands on his hips. "So. You've come for another beating?"

"No," Naruto snapped back, clenching his fists tightly, causing his knuckles to stretch and audibly crack. "I'm here to save my little brother."

Needless to say, Inari was thrilled to see Naruto here. However, the fact remained that he was still tied up, and the two strong men responsible were still here. The rogue ninja stood before him like a wall, and faced off against the blonde without any evidence of fear or doubt in their stances or expressions.

The situation unfolding was becoming more intense by the second.

"Little brother?" Meizu laughed, slapping his forehead and shaking his head. "I see no family resemblance whatsoever."

"We knew that your attachment to this boy was strong, and that if he was in trouble, you would go out of your way to come out here and save him. After all, you are the 'hero' of this village," Gozu chuckled. To him, it was hard to believe that the same Genin who was challenging them, and whom they nearly gutted about a year ago, could be considered a savior of any kind. "What a joke! I can't believe a kid who couldn't even keep up with two Chunin, is regarded as a hero nowadays?"

"A lot of things have changed since the last time we met," Naruto stated in a calm, cold voice, stepping forward and slipping his hands into his pockets. "I have gotten a lot stronger…"

"Well, so have we, brat," Meizu stated, unfolding his arms from his chest and stretching his fingers out.

Reaching behind his back with his left hand, the Chunin in question fumbled about the back pack hanging from his belt for a brief period. After which, he then slowly pulled his arm back into view, revealing the same large gauntlet Naruto remembered from before, wrapped around his arms like a glove. The claws and the chain of shuriken hanging limply from it, as well as a few other adjustments the blonde was able to recognize, were the more defining features of the deadly melee weapon.

"It won't be the same as last time. We won't be playing around with you like we did before," Meizu declared.

"You'll be dead before you even hit the ground," Gozu also stated, reaching back with his right hand and cuffing his arm with a similar gauntlet holstered on his belt. Yanking it around, he revealed the same clawed weapon designed specifically for him, and flexed the finger blades out in an effort to intimidate the Genin.

Naruto, however, was not impressed. He simply glared back at them as they glared at him.

Inari watched on intently, as the Demon Brothers readied for battle.

Now that they were armed, they definitely seemed more like an intimidating force, and the fact that their weapons were dripping with a pure, purple liquid, meant that every blade attached to them was laced with poison.

This sight did not sit too well with the tied up youngster.

"_Naruto…"_

"No mistakes this time," Gozu snapped. "We'll make sure to kill you fast."

Without a word, and with his best defiant stare fixated on the Chunin, Naruto unfurled his trench coat and reached behind him for his pouch. In a flash of metal, he drew a Fuma Shuriken from its holster, and snapped it open. The large, four-pronged windmill blades emerged at his side with the speed of a spring-loaded bolt, and once the weapon was in view, Naruto crouched into a fighting stance.

"I'd like to see you try!" the blonde roared.

Wasting no time, both Gozu and Meizu sprang into action, and sprinted straight towards the Genin. They crisscrossed in their charge, at the same time, connecting the chain of shuriken of their gauntlets together. The chain extended outwards, with the clear intent of slicing the boy in two.

Naruto responded immediately, thrusting the Fuma Shuriken out to his side and, cranking it back, with a mighty yell, threw it at his targets. The weapon sharply cut through the air, spinning at a high velocity as it curved to strike the two Chunin simultaneously, only for the pair to duck under it, and cause it to overshoot.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The Fuma Shuriken flew off, and Gozu and Meizu reached Naruto, the chain of shuriken crossing between the twins hitting the Genin full force. The brothers swiftly ran rings around him, until their opponent's entire body was bound completely by the chain. Inari didn't even have a chance to blink when the _Demon Brothers_ swiftly cut the blonde down into bite-sized pieces. Blood sprayed everywhere as the young ninja was brutally sliced apart without warning.

"NARUTO!"

However, what Gozu and Meizu didn't realize until the last second, was that the boy's body parts weren't made of wood, and his blood certainly wasn't tree sap.

Instincts influencing their reflexes, they spun around just in time to see their target, a perfectly unscathed Naruto, suddenly dash across the width of the bridge from the left hand side, grab Inari, and in just under a second, leap over the railings on the other side in a flat out run. He dove straight into the channel below.

By the time the brothers reached the edge where Naruto and their former hostage disappeared over, they were gone from sight, without any sign of disturbance on the water's surface whatsoever.

"That little bastard!" Gozu shouted, while Meizu, standing behind him, slammed his fist against the railings, only to bruise his knuckles. "How the fuck, did he use a _Substitution Jutsu_ so quickly?"

"Damn him!"

"You called?"

That familiar voice suddenly came from directly behind them.

The _Demon Brothers_ spun around; where they immediately saw Naruto rushing at them along the same line he used in his dash to rescue Inari.

It took them a little bit longer then normal, due to shock and frustration, to realize that the shuriken chain linking their gauntlets was still attached. So when Naruto picked it up from where it was lying on the bridge behind them, he leapt right through the gap between them before they could even react, and dove straight over the side again, pulling them over with him.

The result was the twin brothers' faces slamming head-long into the metal railing with a loud _**CLANG**_, the gas masks they were wearing cracking from the force of the impact, but protecting them nonetheless.

Using the chain like a vine, Naruto swung on it and abseiled right back under the bridge, directly underneath his opponents. Quietly and quickly landing against one of the support beams, he pulled out a kunai and impaled the chain against the pillar, insuring that the brothers could not use their primary weapon anymore.

"_Sasuke was really onto something with that move…"_ Naruto spared a small smirk as he thought back to the time his rival stuck the brothers to a tree.

"FUCK! THAT HURT!" Gozu growled as he rolled around on the ground in agony, clamping a hand over his face, while his other arm was hanging over the edge, unable to move due to it still being attached to the chain.

The same situation was shared with his sibling, who was also rolling about on the cement walkway, clutching his face.

"I'm in such pain! God… dammit all to hell!" Meizu wailed, yanking on his trapped arm. "Cut me loose bro, so I can slice that brat open!"

Reaching over the side with his free hand, Gozu quickly worked on their gauntlets, and detached the shuriken chains. Relinquished from the binds, they both sat up straight, just in time to see Naruto leap into view on the other side of the bridge across from them, and perch himself on the railing. The blonde smirked at the Chunin as they staggered to their feet, heads still ringing from their recent kiss with metal.

"Let's kill him, bro!" Meizu hissed, shaking his head clear and taking a stance, bearing his metallic claws of his gauntlet threateningly. Gozu's claws followed suit as they flashed into view, once the older brother had also regained his sense of balance.

The sunlight reflected off of the brothers' weapons in a menacing way, while Naruto let his arm dangle in front of him in a mocking manner, enticing another round out of them.

"You first!" the older brother shouted. "Get him, Meizu!"

Cocking his gauntlet to his side, the younger brother then stepped forward and thrust the metallic arm out. In the blink of an eye, several barrels popped up from hidden compartments around the brace, and seconds later, a series of loud gunshots rang out, as he launched a barrage of kunai at the blonde boy glaring at them from where he was, twenty or so meters away.

Naruto quickly responded, raising his arm up as a shield over his face as the kunai flew at him. The brothers were confident that their new launchers would put some damage into their target.

However, an unexpected twist occurred, when the kunai struck the boy's upper body, and one after the other, each flying blade that had been fired was deflected off of the trench coat the Genin wore. The barrage of a half a dozen knives went flying off harmlessly, with sparks flashing with every unsuccessful hit, leaving the blonde unscathed.

Meizu lowered his smoking gauntlet in shock. "Impossible!"

At that moment, the blonde Genin leapt off of the railing and charged at the two brothers, moving from defensive to offensive. Meizu also reacted instantaneously to the switch in movement, and charged as well, thrusting his arm back in preparation to strike. His older brother followed suit, covering his brother as he made his attack.

Without so much as blinking or showing any expression of effort whatsoever, Naruto cocked his arm out, and a small, silver kunai appeared in between his fingers. In a flash, he threw the three inch long knife at the younger brother, the Chunin thrusting his melee arm out to block the projectile. However, the small knife overshot his arm, and the wire attached to it wrapped around his arm brace when momentum was lost.

His throw hitting home, Naruto gave a yank on the wire as he continued to sprint, and pulled the younger brother off balance and towards him. Swiftly maneuvering around his staggered foe, the blonde ducked a hook thrown by the off-balanced ninja, while also avoiding a swipe from Gozu as he came around from behind his brother in an attempt to gut their target. However, expertly slipping around kicks and punches, as well as sliding under gaps in their legs thanks to his small stature, Naruto weaved an intricate pattern around the pair, before leaping away to safety, entangling the younger brother in wire.

Crouching several meters from the two stumbling Chunin, Naruto pulled on his length of wire, and forced Meizu over, who tripped from having his legs, as well as the rest of his body, awkwardly bound. The result was a spin-top effect on the younger brother's body as he fell flat out onto the ground, his right arm tied behind him, and his left hand pulled over his right shoulder. Meizu hit the ground with a heavy thud, while his brother staggered away in surprise, when his own leg was tripped.

"Damn… it!" Meizu shouted, struggling against the wire. "I'll kill you, you stupid brat!"

"Looks like I pulled a fast one over you," Naruto replied in a monotone voice, detaching the wire connecting him to the downed Chunin now thrashing about on the floor. "Anyway… it's over for you…"

"Like hell it…" Meizu was unable to finish his shout, when his senses suddenly became aware of the smell of smoke and the sound of hissing.

Eyes widening, the youngest of the _Demon Brothers_ realized that the smoke he could smell, as well as see, was coming from him. Desperately, he rolled over.

Glancing over his shoulder, Meizu saw that the wire wrapped around him and on his back was laced with explosive tags, which were now stuck to his poncho. Furthermore, they were already ignited, and burning away quickly.

"W-What… NO!"

"See yah…" Naruto waved, and snapped his fingers.

The tags detonated simultaneously with concussive force, engulfing the brother and throwing Gozu off of his feet. At the same time, Naruto knelt secured to the ground where he was, as the burning cloud of smoke from the expanding blast blew past him. The fireball that swallowed up the younger brother was instantaneous, and once the violent rattling of shockwave and the fires died out, all that was left was a black cloud hanging in the air right in the middle of the bridge.

The eldest of the _Demon Brothers_, knocked to the ground from the explosion, looked up in shock. In mere seconds, he watched his younger brother's life wisp away with the smog dissipating before him.

It was a sight that shook him beyond comprehension.

"BROTHER!"

The smoke quickly cleared up enough to reveal the charred, lifeless corpse of the younger brother lying in the small crater on the bridge's road. Stunned, Gozu gritted his teeth and leapt angrily to his feet, and in a rage, let out a loud roar.

"DAMN YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Gozu shouted, glaring through the clearing fog.

Before the cloud fully dissipated, the last brother saw Naruto come charging through. The blonde broke through the wall of floating debris, cinder and ash, and rushed the last brother down, with the intent on finishing the battle.

Forming a series of hand seals, the older brother took a stance, and his chakra skyrocketed. Finishing the combination of hand movements, Gozu unleashed his attack. The result was two large pillars of water suddenly rocketing up from either side of the bridge and converged in the air above the Chunin in a heavy, violent shower.

"_**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"**_ Gozu roared, the rivers of water transforming into a enormous beasts, with eyes that flashed angrily.

With a roar of its own, and in a rush of wind and water, the dragon dove straight down at Naruto, who had but a moment to react before the wave hit him full force. The impact literally shook the bridge down, and the attack engulfed him, thrashing him about in a series of brutal and powerful currents.

Gozu grinned maniacally as he watched the streams of water dissipate, and the wall of water engulfing his target fall back into the channel below. However, the moment he relinquished his hold on his attack, he suddenly saw the thick cloud of steam resulting from the clash of water before him dissipate quickly, as the blonde Genin came charging through, his right arm extended and a small blue ball of wind clenched in his hand, disappearing from view.

The _Rasengan_ had blasted much of the opposing attack away, and left a clear path for Naruto to his opponent.

Astounded that the boy was only drenched from the attack and not at all hindered, Gozu growled and cranked his arm back.

"You bastard! I'll tear you to shreds!" he shouted, thrusting his gauntlet out. Another gunshot occurred, and in a rush of wind and smoke, he fired the clawed hand from his brace. A chain of shuriken linked the claw to its wielder, as the makeshift projectile whipped through the air and straight towards its target.

Reaching up with his recently extended right hand, Naruto grabbed the handle of the bayonet sheathed in his shoulder holster, and slashed out on the first draw, knocking aside the clawed slug as it flew at him. With the chain slacking and whipping at him from the momentum it still had behind it, the blonde ducked under and around the flailing shuriken, before leaping straight up into the air through a gap in the chain. However, this made him the aerial target of the older brother's kunai launcher.

Taking aim with his gauntlet, the Chunin fired off kunai after kunai, as the blonde descended towards him at high speed. With his trench coat trailing behind him, Naruto dodged and flipped through the air, occasional slashing out with his bayonet, and blocking the knives aimed at him. Sparks flew with every parry, and just as he was in mid-descent, Naruto unleashed his secret weapon.

The bottle that he took from Tsunami's kitchen served as his next projectile, and he threw it straight down at Gozu, who struck out at it to block. However, what he got was a face full of ketchup when the glass bottle exploded right above him, and splattered all over his face.

The man was staggered by the unexpected, blinding cocktail, and had no time to react when Naruto landed a powerful roundhouse kick right across his face.

The mid-air blow knocked Gozu cart wheeling through the air, before he landed painfully on the drenched floor of the bridge. Sprawled out on impact with the walkway, the wounded man glared up with gritted teeth, an even more cracked gas mask, and his face dripping wet.

"You… damn… ki-…"

Before he could finish his curse, he suddenly saw his opponent crouch down on the ground several feet in front of him, and from the pocket of his trench coat, pull out an explosive note. At first puzzled by the sight of the tag, Gozu's eyes widened when he saw sparks of blue electricity run across it, indicating that it wasn't a paper bomb, but an Electric Tag.

The slip of paper was basically a _Chakra Seal Tag_ meant for stunning its targets, and also had paralyzing, as well as probable killing properties.

However, odds of it being able to only stun him changed, when he looked down at the ground in front of him, to see that it was drenched in water. And the puddle at the Genin's feet was the same one he was lying in.

Wordlessly, and with a stoic expression in play, Naruto slapped the tag down onto the ground and into the puddle. Using chakra to activate it, a stream of electricity suddenly erupted from the paper seal, and in just under a second, reached the downed, helpless, and drenched Gozu.

When the stream of far more potent electricity hit the rogue ninja, the last distinctive thing he felt was a painful pinch, before he started wailing out in agony as thousands of volts of electrical energy began coursing through his entire body. The ten second period of electrocution caused Gozu's face to visibly fry, and his body to start smoking. Moments later, his screaming stopped, and he face planted the surface of the bridge with a light thud, as all his weight dropped at once.

In a matter of minutes from the start of the battle, both of the famed _Demon Brothers_ were dead.

Naruto, seeing the battle come to a silent close, sighed and ripped the electric tag from the puddle, and scrunched it up in his hand. It was useless now anyway.

Wordlessly, he walked over to the corpse of the older brother, and carelessly grabbed him by his collar and picked him up, tossing him over his shoulder. He then walked over to collect the body of his brother.

Ironically enough, their deaths weren't in vein.

The bounties on their heads would definitely help Naruto in the long run…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	6. The New Song Begins

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The New Song Begins_

_**Later…**_

_**That next Afternoon…**_

Naruto surprisingly took the feeling of defeating the _Demon Brothers_ pretty well. It was like him painting white over a bloody and miserable picture, relieving him of an unpleasant vision that has been haunting him since his first C-Rank mission.

Understandably enough though, unlike with Zabuza and Haku, the blonde spared them little thought or pity, and simply shrugged off his confrontation with them as an inconvenience. After all, because he followed his own _Way of the Ninja_, Naruto had attained his own code of honor and sense of morality, which sets him apart from other shinobi like Meizu and Gozu. By extension, it also placed him on the sidelines between cold-blooded killer and peacemaker.

Against the black chalkboard of the world, he was but a yellow mark engraved upon the rough surface.

After rescuing Inari and bringing the boy back home through a crowd of stunned and grateful onlookers, the first thing he received the moment he walked through the front door was a _**whack**_ to the face from an exceedingly worried and furious Tayuya, and a scolding from the very same kunoichi. This was followed up by a series of_ 'thank-you_s' and gratitude from Tsunami and Tazuna, who had just caught wind of their family member's predicament. Naruto however, didn't fuss over it; simply stating that he was merely helping out a friend in need, and that he was thankful he arrived on time

Before that day could end, Naruto made sure to cash in the bodies of the _Demon Brothers_ to the local law enforcers' base of operations. From the bounties on their heads, which were listed in the bingo book right beside Zabuza's column, Naruto received a whopping sum of half a million for both their heads combined. It also came with a finder's fee, which he would later give to Inari for his involvement in the short bout.

Thanks to that victory and highlight of the day, the young Genin was able to sleep soundly that night…

If you could call sitting beside Tayuya's futon from dawn to dusk, meditating and watching over her sleeping?

In the day following, Naruto spent his time juggling periods spent between Inari, Tazuna and Tayuya. His business throughout the day consisted of going outside to play _ninja_ with the youngest member of the family, walking around town with the old drunk to catch up and talk, and then, after all other manner of mischief and helping Tsunami out with chores, he spent the rest of the hours of daylight sitting outside under a tree with Tayuya, simply chatting.

That was until he insisted they go and visit his other friends around _Wave_…

A brief stroll through the forest and a short climb later, Naruto and Tayuya soon arrived at the gravesites of Zabuza and Haku. The blonde smiled as he approached the crosses to pay his respects, with his close companion standing by and watching on with interest.

Both were sure to maintain calm and collected expressions, as they said hello to the resting pair.

Walking up to the swordsman's grave first, Naruto knelt beside it and placed his hand on the soil. Making a small space, he inserted a pair of lit incense sticks, and placed a small bowl of fruit beside them.

The blonde, dressed in his darkest clothes, smiled as he clapped his hands together and said a short prayer. During which time, Tayuya hobbled over, and placed a small pick of flowers atop of the grave. The red head gave a nod of respect, and stepped away, giving the Genin his space.

"It seems like… years have passed since I was last here, Zabuza Momochi," Naruto murmured, unclasping his hands and reaching into his trench coat pocket. When he pulled his hand out, he also drew a small photo frame with a picture of Zabuza on it out of its confinement, and placed it underneath the cross, beneath the shadow of his sword. "I know it's more sensible to just use your sword as your representative, so that people will remember you for the legendary ninja that you were. However…I'd rather that people remember you for the _good_ man that you were…"

Tayuya watched as Naruto grinned and rose to his feet, slipping his hands into his trench coat pockets.

"You saved Haku from his loneliness," he continued on quietly, bowing his head towards the man beneath his feet. "You gave him a purpose in life, and in the eyes of the world, he became somebody important, and worthy of living. And you became somebody important to him…"

Naruto then turned his attention to Haku's grave, and just as he had done for Zabuza, laid out incense for him, a small bowl of fruit, and a photograph of him. He had taken their pictures from the bingo book, or whatever other sources he could find, and framed them.

Just like before, Tayuya laid out flowers for the boy.

"Being ninja, we never know when death is about to take us away, whether it'll be now, today or tomorrow," Naruto stated, presenting a half-smile, while holding back his emotions as best as he could. "You would think that we were just ordinary tools without purpose; people with nothing to lose and who can willingly accept whatever fates they are dealt. Heh… to me… _fate_ is just another word used to control people, setting them impossible boundaries. However, you showed me something else, something that was much stronger then fate…"

He allowed himself to only express himself through words, and not through appearances. The things that he was saying were really striking a chord with Tayuya, who looked away when she felt her chest ping briefly with an unfamiliar emotional response.

"Haku… you made me realize that even ninja can choose what they want out of life, and that we were capable of shaping our own destinies. You chose to serve and protect Zabuza with your life, right up to the very end. Even though I didn't understand it back then, I do now… and I respect that."

The blonde looked up towards the head of the grave, where he saw the things that had been placed in memory of Haku, including the mask he had placed there the afternoon before leaving _Wave_ the last time he was here, which was now dirty and had some grass growing on it. The teen's belt was also draped on the arm of the cross, this being untouched by nature, and carried the soul of a strong warrior.

It was still sad though, thinking that such a person was taken from the world at such an age.

But even in death, both Zabuza and Haku managed to leave an imprint on the Genin's soul that would not be so easily swept away. In the midst of the toughest battles of his life, the young Genin still thought back on them and their words of wisdom, and pushed himself to meet their expectations and prove his merit to the world.

From them he gained value, heart and strength, and that was more powerful then any physical blow.

Naruto smiled and rose to his feet.

Walking over to Haku's cross, he reached down and picked up the mask perched against it, weighing the porcelain piece in his hand, as well as brushing the dirt away. Tayuya watched as the boy ran his fingers over the eye slits and the red swirl of paint, which bared the face of the Kirigakure Hunter-Nin. Nevertheless, the mask was absent of any other markings, as Haku belonged to no village, which the blonde felt was fitting for him, when he placed it on the grave the first time.

After cleaning it off, Naruto temporarily lowered the primitive visor, and directed his attention back down at Haku's grave.

"I think I've grown up enough to understand your sacrifice," the blonde exclaimed.

Unexpectedly, the Genin reached up and bit his thumb, drawing blood. With his freshly made wound, he painted something onto the mask, out of sight. Tayuya attempted to crane her head over his shoulders to see what he was doing, but he made it perfectly clear that this was something between himself and his deceased friend.

When he was done, Naruto wiped away the cut and grinned. "I will keep my promise to you, to follow my own _Way of the Ninja_, to protect my friends and those whom I call family. In doing so, I must turn to a new chapter in my life…"

Bowing one last time, Naruto turned back to Tayuya, the girl looking at him curiously.

Sharing a smirk with her, the boy then covered his face with the mask, and gradually lowered his hand, revealing what he had painted on the mask. The moment he revealed his new face, the redhead in front of him nearly jumped back in shock at the sight of a bloody smiley-face smeared onto the porcelain visage.

Because there was quite a bit of blood used, it dribbled a bit, giving the smile a very sadistic appearance and a sinister appeal. Added with the patterns already present and the slits for eyes, Tayuya quickly concluded that it was a pretty scary face.

However, the redhead couldn't help but laugh, jolting herself out of her surprise.

"Nice look, shithead. It suits you," the former Sound kunoichi exclaimed and pointed. "Just don't wear that around children. You'll scare the daylights out of them."

Naruto nodded back silently in response before removing the mask, unveiling a real smile beneath it.

"Of the two things Haku gave to me," Naruto murmured, gesturing to the object in his hand. "This is the second and last thing that he will give me… and I am grateful…"

* * *

_**By the end of the week…**_

"See you, Naruto-kun!"

"Don't be a stranger now!"

"You and your friends are always welcome here."

"Good luck!"

"You're our hero, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Tayuya was amazed at the reception the blonde was still receiving, even when he was leaving. The amount of thanks and praise he got from the villagers was unbelievable, but after what he had done to save Inari, as well as what she had heard from Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami combined about his team's gallant tales, she knew he deserved it.

Standing at the entrance of the bridge and leaning on her crutches, she watched as the blonde, fully dressed and packed for his long trip, bid farewell to his friends. He shook hands with the males of the villages, ruffled the heads of the children, and received hugs from the women. Through her eyes, he bared the visage of a real hero and idol.

"_But how can they love that idiot?"_ she thought incredulously as she continued her observations. _"Sure, he and his team saved the country from a tyrant… but honestly… he isn't something special… no where near adequate enough to be called a role model. He's loud, he's obsessive, he's childish, and he's an idiot…"_

She watched as the boy picked up a young girl and placed her on his shoulders. He spun on the spot, laughing and cheering, just as she was. The sight brought a small smile across Tayuya's lips, as she watched him place the kid back onto the ground and give one final wave to the crowds, before approaching Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami on the sidelines. The three of them were waiting patiently for him at the edge of the throng of civilians seeing him off.

Unable to help herself, Tayuya placed a hand on her chest, and squeezed the area where her heart was.

The tingling she was feeling wasn't from any internal injury…

This was something she couldn't explain, but spared no thought towards it, other then one.

"_But he's a nice idiot…"_

Naruto hugged Tsunami, who also gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Don't be gone too long, Naruto-kun. We'd love to see you back here again… and soon."

"I'll be sure to pop around to visit some time, especially for some more of that delicious stew," Naruto grinned, withdrawing a little to beam up at her. "Believe it!"

"Of course," Tsunami ruffled his hair. "I'll keep a pot warm for you."

Naruto was then pulled away by Tazuna, the man sharing a firm handshake with the boy.

"You've grown a lot since the last time you were here kid, I can't stress that enough," the old man exclaimed, before patting him on the head. "But grow up more on the outside then on the inside, this time. I want to be able to look you in the eye rather than down at you next time, alright."

Naruto furrowed his brow at the bridge builder, his right eye twitching in response to the man's comments. "Sure… whatever… I'll be sure to stretch every morning."

A moment of awkward silence followed, before the pair grinned and laughed together. They grabbed each other's wrists, and gave the other a firm handshake that conveyed a deep understanding, trust and friendship, as they bid their last goodbyes.

"I'll miss you brat."

"Same here, old man. Stay out of trouble."

Naruto then moved down to Inari, and crouched in front of the youngster so that he could face him properly. He saw Inari wipe away tears, before looking back to glare at the blonde with a defiant stare, as he held back more tears.

"Y-You… will come back to visit us again, won't you, Naruto?" Inari asked. This earned him a grin from the Genin, who raised his hand up and placed it on his head.

"Of course I'll come back. I'll start missing this place after a few days. I'll drop by some day to see how you're doing and to make sure you're coping well." Naruto nodded affirmatively, and lowered his hand back down. "Just promise me that you will make something of yourself when you grow up."

Inari nodded back, sniffing. Wiping at his eyes again, the boy shut them tightly and held a fist out to his friend, assuming a more upright position. It was as if he was standing at attention.

"Get stronger, nii-san! And taller! You're too short!" Inari shouted, earning a laugh from the crowd and a snicker from Tayuya. Naruto simply shrugged it off with a smirk and poked the boy in the nose, causing him to stagger back clumsily. After that affectionate gesture, the blonde then bumped knuckles with him.

"The next time we meet, I'll be over five-foot, seven inches. Just watch!" Naruto said, rising back up and coming to stand before the boy with his hands in pockets. "We'll both grow, so long as the other person grows as well."

Inari nodded in response. Surprisingly enough, he leapt at his friend and role model, and hugged him tightly, before pushing off and running back to his mum to hug her. After being relinquished from the brief embrace, Naruto bowed respectively to Tazuna's family, and with a final wave to them and the villagers, the blonde headed off, rejoining Tayuya under the archway. Side by side, the pair then began slowly making their way across the bridge, back towards the _Land of Fire_.

The crowd cheered and waved them off, with Tayuya making sure to wave back as well as a show of appreciation, before they were completely out of sight.

As the bridge builder's family watched the two vanish over the horizon, Tsunami turned towards her father with a smile.

"Will they be alright?"

"Oh, definitely," Tazuna nodded firmly with a wide grin plastered smugly on his face. "They're both strong _**and**_ they're both stubborn. The question you should have asked is whether the world out _there_ will be alright?"

Tsunami giggled and looked back towards the passage crossing over the channel before her. "Those two are almost perfect for each other. Two stubborn, yet tolerant souls are quite compatible, you know."

"Yeah…"

* * *

_**Some time later…**_

Naruto and Tayuya had marched miles down the road, and since leaving _Wave_, have not said more then a few words to one another. All they did was concentrate on getting to wherever it was they were heading towards, while keeping a clear head and senses extended in case of ambush. After all, it had been over a week since Naruto had left his village's allegiance behind to pursue greater goals. Depending on how Konohagakure responded, Tsunade would either dispatch squads or ANBU's to search for him, or leave him be.

Suspecting the former, Naruto was sure to keep an extra eye open.

Hence, any audible words were dismissed immediately by the pair, who trudged along as if they were just common folk. Since they were no longer wearing any headbands or possessed any visible weapons of any sort (as Tayuya had cleverly covered her new short blade in the guise of a sleeping bag), they weren't deemed as a threat to anyone who could be watching.

Silence dawned and the journey went on without pause.

It was only when they were in horizon sight of _Wave Country _and its trademark bridge, that the pair suddenly encountered a T-junction in their wake, and had to decide which road to follow.

Looking left and right, the ninja debated on the preferred route of travel, whether to go north or south.

The road leading south would lead them towards either _Iwagakure_ or _Kirigakure_, as stated by the capitals engraved into the sign planted in the middle of the junction. On the other hand, they had the option of heading north, where they could choose to either go towards _Sunagakure, Yukigakure_, or _Kumogakure_.

After standing and looking up at the simple sign for several minutes, Naruto slowly looked left, then right. On the northern road to his right, the blonde's stare suddenly went blank, as he proceeded to stare off over that particular horizon for some time. It was only when something in that general direction caught his eye did his expressions change.

Over the top of the hill, he saw a small silhouette appear, which caused him to make a double-take and sharpen his binocular like vision to determine exactly what it was. Hardening his gaze, he saw that the road leading to the top of the hill had unexpectedly developed some small traffic, in the form of an individual animal.

The orange coat, slim build and large tail of the female fox that had followed him and Tayuya all the way out here stood, staring down at them.

Tail waving happily behind her, she beckoned Naruto down the road with a light bark.

Enticed, Naruto turned heel and began following the path leading North. Tayuya blinked when she saw him suddenly start walking off without her, and hobbled a few steps in pursuit, but ultimately stopped when she saw the direction he was going.

"Hey! Hang on a second? Where exactly are you going, shithead?" Tayuya asked.

Her voice stopped the boy in question, in his tracks.

Hands in his pockets, he turned around, stoic expression still in play, with the fox still waiting for him in the background.

"Wherever the wind takes me, of course," he replied in a straightforward manner. Tayuya went a bit slack-jawed at his overly vague, sketchy answer.

"W-What?"

"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to," Naruto stated, while giving her a relaxed, casual stare. "You're free to go wherever you want now. You aren't my prisoner, and certainly haven't been one since I found you. You don't owe me any favors."

Tayuya gave him a questioning look as he spoke, the blonde smiling and turning away to face his intended route.

"However… if you still want to come with me, you're most welcome."

"Well… whether you want me to come along with you or not shithead is not up to you," Tayuya growled back, hobbling up to him at the same time. She stopped by his side, and looked the boy square in the eyes when he glanced over at her. Since they both stood at the same height, they were more or less equals in this bout of words.

She grinned at him. "You're fun to hang around with and you're more then entertaining when it comes to strife. You seem to have a lot of shit following your shadow. Those _Demon Brothers_ showing up at that peaceful town of _Wave_ proves that."

Naruto blinked as he looked at her, to which she then thumped him in the arm, hard. Though, he spared the affectionate gesture with little concern.

"Wherever you go, I'll go. I have no home to return to and I sure as hell ain't goin' back to that snake's fucking stink hole of a country," Tayuya exclaimed. "If you need a partner, well… sign me up…"

Naruto smirked and looked back up the road, and so did Tayuya, where they saw the fox still waiting for them. As she waved her tail behind her, anxious to rejoin the two interesting individuals that had caught her attention in the first place, the young teens shared a few, last minute words, before they decided to start anything.

"They say when a fox appears, we're in the presence of a spiritual entity," Naruto murmured, his trench coat suddenly being ruffled by a light, comforting breeze that seemed to come out of nowhere. In turn, Tayuya's hair blew on the wind, leaves rustling passed them.

"You believe in that stuff?" Tayuya replied, shrugging with a huff from her lips. "Well, if there is ever a sign from the universe, I guess that fox is it…"

With a nod of agreement, the two proceeded up the rough road. Noticing the young couple walking towards her, the fox hopped to the side of the road, and sat herself down comfortably to wait for them to pass her.

As soon as the two of them strolled by, the little animal joined them at their side, choosing to walk beside them instead of in their shadows. She decided to stick to Naruto's side, certain that the two shinobi meant her no harm.

Though it surprised the pair at how closely the little mammal followed them, it didn't bother them at all. Instead, they tolerated the fox's presence, and walked on.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

_**Back at Konohagakure…**_

High up in the office of the Hokage mansion, staring out over the village before her, the Fifth leader of the _Village Hidden in the Leaves_ looked out in deep thought and silence. Arms folded, and practically all paperwork planned out for her lying forgotten on her oak desk, Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin tapped her fingers impatiently, while analyzing the details of the horizon beyond. Her eyes reflected the view's magnificent beauty.

However, it wasn't the breathtaking scenery that had captured her attention so firmly.

It was the thought of the young shinobi who had so readily left their ranks just over a week ago, in pursuit of a different, foreign purpose, outside of the safety of the place he had called home for most of his life. It was this particular thought that was causing her so much grief.

The prospects of her most recognized Genin out there on his own shook the older blonde something fierce.

She furrowed her brow suddenly, her expressionless face changing in the glow of the sun.

"What do you want, Jiraiya?" Tsunade snapped out of nowhere, earning a small chuckle from the white haired man perched on the window ledge across to her left.

"Oh, come on Tsunade. Is that anyway to greet an old friend?"

"Force of habit, I'm afraid," Tsunade glanced over at him, unmoving from her post. "Remember how we greeted Orochimaru last time?"

"How can I forget," the hermit murmured, rubbing the back of his head, before turning in the direction his teammate had been staring off in. The woman sighed, and followed suit with her previous engagement.

While the silence was good, it didn't remain. The pair had important matters to discuss.

"I'm worried about him," Tsunade stated, lowering her head a little.

"So am I," Jiraiya furrowed his brow, and pressed his lips together tightly in his worried scowl. "But from what Kakashi told us, Naruto made it perfectly clear that he would return someday. So it's safe to say that he hasn't abandoned the village completely."

"He did exactly what you did all those years ago," Tsunade mused pointedly, and looked over at the old lug lounging on her window frame. "After our former teammate left us in the dust, _you_ headed on your own way in order to find the answers to the questions plaguing your thoughts."

"I believe that's what Naruto is trying to accomplish as well." The two Sannin locked onto each other with certain expressions pasted on their faces. "He's attempting to find the answers to his own questions. Fighting Sasuke has probably opened up a whole new world to him, and he now feels the need to explore it. If he doesn't, then the prospects will only haunt him and cause him endless torment."

"It's an impulsive decision he's made. That's for sure," Tsunade muttered, and turned back towards the window with a sigh. "But is he smart enough to survive on his own. He may be tough, but his survival skills are sort of… _**laxed**_…"

"Don't worry too much about him," Jiraiya waved a hand at her. "I'm sure the brat will be fine. I'm… fifty-fifty percent sure…" The two Sannin shared worried looks, but then shook their heads, dispensing any thoughts of their favorite kid wandering across the lands in a close state of insanity.

"Us on the other hand, we don't need to worry too much about the other things out there that might try to cause him harm." The old man folded his arms and leaned up against the hard frame supporting him, as he gave his friend a considerate smile. "He's dealt with missing-nin more times then once, not to mention, I learned from one of my sources that the Akatsuki won't be making a move on the jinchuriki for another three years. That gives us and him plenty of time to prepare."

"Does he know that, though?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm sure that after his fight with Sasuke, Naruto's been driven to become much stronger then he already is. Promises to his friends and resolve from the battle ensures that he will be working even harder to surpass Sasuke… and maybe even us some day," Jiraiya stated with a grin. "Let's just see how things play out. If he's anything like his father was, I have a feeling that that boy's got one or two tricks up his sleeve."

Tsunade sprouted a grin of her own. "Now _that_ I can imagine…"

She then turned back to her desk. Swinging her chair around, she pulled out a bottle of sake from her drawer and two cups, placed them out in front of her, and poured out two drinks. Jiraiya hopped off of the ledge and marched over, just as the Hokage held out one of the beverages for him to take.

"Since we're still talking about Naruto, let's compare appearances and personalities to his parents," the woman smirked.

Just as Jiraiya made himself comfortable on one of the couches in front of the Hokage's desk, he shrugged his shoulders and prepared to drink.

"I'm sure he'll be fine… just fine…" he mumbled out, taking a sip. Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"Yeah… he'll be fine. No question…"

"_No he won't…"_ They both thought at the same time with weak grins on their suddenly grim faces.

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	7. The Journey of a Thousand Footsteps

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The Journey of a Thousand Footsteps_

_**Three and a half months…**_

_**And several agonizing hours later…**_

Tayuya was beginning to wonder whether her decision to join Naruto on his incredible journey was really doing her any good.

Sitting under the shadow of a tree, flute in hand and a bored look on her face, she watched as the troublesome blonde in question, trained vigorously directly beneath the waterfall they had stopped at. Of all the places they had gone too so far, this felt like the fifth waterfall to her, even though there had been more then six to seven actual stops. Admittedly, Tayuya found it fascinating when watching her traveling companion train physically in the ways he had watched his friend Lee train. However, it was utterly time-consuming and pointless, watching him attempting or practicing at chakra control. And day in, day out, it was always the same routine.

Naruto would always find the nearest boulder or waterfall, and sit atop of either the rock or the small lake's surface. In the case of the latter, he would normally sit directly underneath the raging falls, which Tayuya assumed was mind-bogglingly tough to endure against the full force of the river above, not to mention the temperature. It had to be freezing, particularly since the waterfall he was sitting underneath at that moment was coming directly from a mountain, which was framed perfectly in the background beside the various cliffs and valleys in the distance.

The red-head sighed and shook her head as she watched him sit expressionless and cross-legged, hands placed in his lap, and tied together in an odd seal.

On the plus side of all the traveling, training stops and boredom, things were going well for her.

For the most part, her legs were healed. However, it was taking some time getting her original strength back into them, so all she could really do at this point was run at an average pace. Tree jumping was good, since her chakra contributed to most of that, but it was still a pain, and her balance was slightly off. So, annoyingly enough, she had to continue hitching rides on her companion's back for the excruciatingly long treks. The boy was a freaking power house after all, so… free ride!

Still, there had been good journeys.

Over the period they had been together, they had gone from town to town, and country to country, and had taken up lodgings at each one whenever they could. In all honesty, it had been the most fun either of them had ever had, regardless of the fact that they were still adjusting to each other's presence.

However, most nights was spent camping outside, and during the free periods that came with them, Tayuya had watched Naruto train and get stronger, while she rested her legs and practiced her flute skills.

Despite being one of the former members of the _Sound Four_ of Orochimaru's elite, and though she didn't show it outwardly, the redhead was still astounded at the amount of strength a mere Genin of his age group could display. He was nothing like that shadow boy or wind girl she had fought not so long ago. Naruto was something else entirely.

He relied mostly on physical strength and close combat, and in spite of not being the most intelligent shinobi she had ever met, he was still pretty smart. Nevertheless, during his hard-assed training regimes which dominated most nights and days, he still needed help in some areas. And with her being the only really experienced shinobi for miles he could possibly ask for advice, he often approached her for that help.

The main questions that came to his mind were how he could further develop his fighting styles, as well as how he could improve his already existing techniques.

Understandably, she didn't know shit about his _Rasengan_ or _Shadow Clones_, yet she did manage to give him some helpful hints on the stuff that she did know. Starting with the regular _Clone Jutsu's_ capability to transfer information to the original host upon dispelling, and that they also had the innate capacity to speed up the user's training process by at least half. In Naruto's case of course, when he was able to work his mind around what she had told him, he immediately deduced that he could turn a year's worth of training into mere weeks.

Naruto's _Rasengan_ was a little tricky for Tayuya to get around once he had explained the concept to her. It was a pretty farfetched idea to a person like her, since she had an affinity for Earth, not at all related to Wind at all. Since she couldn't provide any useful tips on the technique, other then the advice of training consistently with it to increase his strength and possibly improve it, it meant Naruto had to figure something out for himself.

Which he did!

Following that strain of counsel, he spent a lot of his time thereafter experimenting with the spiraling sphere technique, as well as performing rigorous training exercises with it. For a better part of the following, second half of the months that passed, Naruto literally took down about fifteen acres of wood slamming his _Rasengan_ into trees and plowing it through every boulder and cliff face he could find. Along the way, he attempted to change the normal technique's shape, size and destructive power to cause more damage and have a wider range of affect, as well as attempting to use its various stages to form new techniques for easier usage, rather then struggling to go through the whole shaping and power process, and maintaining it. He also incorporated the idea of trying to transform its usual short range effectiveness to long range.

Needless to say, he succeeded in creating a much larger, more destructive version of the _Rasengan_, by applying more chakra and increasing its rotation speed. It was definitely an improvement on his behalf, but took much more chakra in order for him to create and maintain it.

It was sure fun for him over the following weeks, as he relentlessly and restlessly trained in its usage, and increased his chakra competence through balancing meditation and physical trauma. It wasn't easy.

During his training, he also developed another, unique technique, in which he used the _Rasengan's_ chakra rotation at his palm and stopped it half way through the second stage of its development. This meant that the power created from the rotation of chakra expanded outwards at a high velocity, just as it had done to the water balloon and rubber ball, only this was applied to more solidly built and larger objects, particularly trees and boulders.

Another forest unfortunately, contributed to his experimentation with this new technique, and was sadly blasted down.

Naruto found this particular ability to be the more manageable of the two, next to his larger and far more powerful _Great Ball Rasengan_. He passionately referred to this new, destructive palm technique as _Spontaneous Particle Combustion_, as it strangely used wind chakra to cause air pressure to rapidly increase within objects and violently destroy it on mass. Matter of all shapes and sizes literally exploded on touch, as well as in chains when he manipulated the resounding blasts through various other substances.

He quickly discovered that through the process of spontaneous chakra bursts that he could bend the wind he manifested through streams and not just from a single point at his palm. This puzzled him greatly.

He also spent considerable training time discovering this new found ability to control and produce wind, as well as upping his speed and power for his usage of it.

Tayuya snorted as she watched him sit stock straight where he was as the water from the falls poured over him, in his efforts to learn more about his chakra. She turned her head away, and focused more attention on her flute.

"The idiot doesn't even realize he has an affinity for _Wind Release_. Kami, did he even learn _**anything**_ at the academy about chakra? Honestly," she mumbled.

Due to all the times Naruto had walked up to her while she was either napping or playing the flute, all he had were questions about chakra and all other sorts of shit. It was beginning to dig in.

"_And I thought he was more competent then that. I've definitely overestimated him…"_

She began playing her flute again, beautiful music filling the air, joining the various species of birds' songs, as well as the crickets and cicadas chirping away in the brush.

Sitting not too far from them, the fox that had been accompanying them the entire way through on their journey slept peacefully, ears twitching instinctively to ward off the flies. Upon the sound of Tayuya's flute beginning to flood the air, the female fox cracked an eye and glanced over in the young shinobi's direction. At first, the mammal was seemingly baffled by the sound it was hearing. However, recognizing the sound belonging to the redhead, she turned away and resumed snoozing.

While Tayuya played and the fox slept, Naruto was left to his peaceful meditation.

Though his mind was blank of all thoughts, his attention was set on the chakra coursing through his entire body. He felt as it flowed through him and around him, gaining a better understanding of it. For him, learning through practice was more adequate then learning about it through theoretical means. It was so much easier to watch it first hand, copy it, and practice it. Then there was the other alternative of discovering it for himself. While this was much trickier and time consuming, he learned that through perseverance, success was usually imminent.

After all, the traditions of all arts of fighting started with imitations and came hand-in-hand with hard work.

Eyes opening, Naruto furrowed his brow and concentrated his chakra in his palms. Reaching over to his right and feeling under the shallow surface of the waterfall, he picked up a rock and held it between his hands. Slowly, he parted his hands, till the rock was hovering between his palms, rotating in a mini vortex of wind energy.

Gritting his teeth, he concentrated his chakra at a point, the two streams coming together, flattening, and sharpening, before literally slicing the rock clean in two.

He then released it, and soon afterwards, focused his chakra above him against the flow of the waterfall.

Through brute effort and absolute concentration, the boy literally stopped the waterfall from falling on top of him. The rushing water was backed up by an invisible barrier as a result, and began falling elsewhere.

Tayuya stopped everything she was doing, and looked on in astonishment to see the boy start pushing back the flow of the waterfall with just his chakra. Even the fox looked up when it detected the unnatural phenomenon taking place, and stared wide-eyed just as the kunoichi was.

Wind picked up around the two members of the audience, as both the redhead and the mammal watched the waterfall start to flow upwards, with the water firmly being held back by the unfaltering invisible wall, which was climbing ever higher.

Naruto kept pushing with his chakra, gritting his teeth, and his body quivering from the effort he was exerting. The wind barrier cutting through the stream climbed at a gradual pace, and the water backing up at the river started to flow more strongly. After a minute or so though, and after a climb of about twenty stories, the wall of wind reached the top, and stopped, damming the river.

Holding it for as long as his body would allow him, Naruto then released his hold over the fluctuating air currents, and allowed the water to fall back towards the small lake below. However, before the mass of congested water hit him, he sent a jolt of chakra upwards, and, like a knife, his chakra cut a groove straight into the flowing water, so that it parted safely.

With just that one maneuver, the boy had literally stopped a river's natural flow.

Exhausted from the effort, the half-naked boy picked himself up from under the waterfall, and walked out from underneath it, allowing it to flow normally once more. The cascading shower cleaned him and woke him from his chakra strained state, and he ran a hand through his hair.

He brushed away his drenched locks, and smirked to himself as he stepped out of the lake, and walked over to his gear and material goods, all of them folded up neatly under the tree next to Tayuya.

The kunoichi was speechless as he approached, and in the time it took for him to reacquaint his face and the rest of his body with a towel, she still didn't speak. It was only when he noticed her staring up at him that he paused for a moment's recognition.

"What?"

"Oh… uhh… n-no… nothing," Tayuya shook her head and looked away. Cleaning her head of any thoughts of the boy's amazing feat, the girl kept her eyes off of him, and blinked away her surprise.

Naruto simply shrugged and went about drying himself. He then tossed the towel back down to the ground, before proceeding to stretch and flex out his sore muscles. His fluctuating chakra flow meant that his body was stiff and in pain, but that quickly disappeared when he forced it to calm down.

"Well… I'm going to do some physical exercises and shadow sparring now. You can join me if you want… so you can re-strengthen your legs," Naruto suggested, turning to face the clearing before him, while glancing down at the redhead.

Tayuya however, maintaining her defiant state, shook her head.

"No thanks. You can do whatever the hell you want. I'll just… hang around here," she replied, caressing her flute in her hands. "I've still got some work to do on my music… I… don't want to get caught off guard again… like against that girl with the fan from before…"

Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"Suit yourself, Tayuya-chan," he exclaimed. Without another word, he walked out onto the clearing to practice his taijutsu.

During the time the blonde allowed her some room, the redhead couldn't help but feel a little bit left out when she saw him part from her, but relaxed a bit when she began watching him spar against an invisible opponent. It was good practice to work on technique, and it certainly had results when done successively.

Though his style wasn't completely perfect and all that elegant compared to other forms of fighting, he was nevertheless, getting better.

"_Well… if nothing else is improving… he's certainly getting stronger every day…"_

A small smile crept over Tayuya's lips and instead of resuming her flute playing, propped her head up on her hand, and watched the boy work.

* * *

_**Two hours later…**_

The two wandering shinobi were on the move again.

Trudging down the dirt road, the pair stood side by side, engaged in a casual conversation.

Although, it was a bit one-sided at this point.

"You know, you don't look so good, shithead," Tayuya murmured, looking the boy up and down with a very dissatisfied look on her face. He had grown about a centimeter higher, but it wasn't that big of a change. Really, the only thing she did notice about him at present was that he looked even more miserable, as well as scruffy and unkempt, compared to the month prior. "Have you gotten any sleep since we left _Wave Country_ at all?"

Naruto shook his head, hands in his pockets.

Truthfully, he wasn't looking that well. His skin had paled a little, and the bags under his eyes had become more defined and darker. If anything, the skin coloration around his eyelids was beginning to mirror that of Gaara's, but only under the eyes. However, despite his sleep deprived state, he was able to maintain a clean head.

His focus wasn't at all hindered by matters such as lack of sleep.

"Honestly, it's not healthy," Tayuya stated, stepping closer to him and grabbing his coat's sleeve. "The next town we arrive at, I'm going to get you a hotel room, and I want you to at least get a few hours of shut-eye."

Naruto gently pulled his arm from her grip, surprising the redhead.

"I'm not tired," he replied in a monotone voice.

"Bullshit. You look like the fucking, walking dead," Tayuya snapped back angrily, folding her arms impatiently. "Clearly, you're not thinking straight. Any reasonable man would know when to call it quits."

Naruto sighed and looked over at her, seeing the girl fuming at him.

"Do I look that bad?"

"Like… _dead_ bad… that's how _**bad**_, dipshit," Tayuya poked him in the shoulder. "This insomnia isn't helping your complexion."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Complexion?"

"(Sigh) Kami, you're an idiot. How do I put this?" The redhead rubbed the bridge of her nose briefly, attempting to compose herself, as well as form a simple explanation, before suddenly poking him in the cheek. This only roused a blink from the boy as she drove her dagger of a fingernail into his sponge like flesh. "You'll look like a wrinkly old geezer by the time you're thirty if you don't sleep regularly!"

She then went on to rant about sun damage, as well as how creepy he looked with bags under his eyes.

Not really wanting to bear the brunt of her frustration, and the fact that his face was getting sore from her poking and pinching, Naruto reluctantly smiled and nodded back at her. His response immediately caught her attention.

"Alright Tayuya… at the next town, I'll try and get some sleep…"

"Good," the kunoichi smirked triumphantly and unfolded her arms. "I don't want to have to carry you if you lose consciousness in the middle of the fucking road. Though I appreciate what you did for me before, I'm still healing, so there's no way I'm going to be playing chariot to your dead-ass weight…" The girl quickened her walking pace, and began striding ahead, leaving Naruto smiling in amusement as she left him in the dust.

Shaking his head at the girl's antics, he then glanced down at the fox trotting quietly beside him. The mammal glanced up at him curiously, sensing the boy's gaze on her.

"This… _thing_… with Tayuya-chan… do you think it will work out?"

The fox simply poked her nose in the air and also began walking faster down the road, moving to stride alongside the marching Tayuya, and getting ahead of the befuddled blonde. The redhead paused in the middle of the path for a moment to allow the fox to clamber into her arms and onto her shoulder, before continuing to walk with her passenger.

Shrugging it off, Naruto chuckled.

"_Silent type, huh?"_

From then on, the spiky haired Genin resolved to keep a smile on his face for the duration of that journey, and walked a little bit faster to catch up with his quick footed traveling companions. Tayuya and her fox friend managed to stay in the lead, while the supposed head of the trio followed after them at a staggered pace. Even though the kunoichi attempted to feign ignorance to his presence in a teasing manner, she still looked back every now and again to acknowledge that he was still with her and that she hadn't lost him.

Satisfied to know that he was able to keep a good pace with her, she marched on, stopping every once in a while to catch her breath and to rest her legs.

Despite both Naruto and Tayuya being peak athletes, there was a limit to what they could accomplish in a day. While the blonde was a full-blown energy hub, the redhead was still recovering from her brush with death. Her legs still felt they were chained to blocks of lead, with the stiffness in her muscles making it difficult for her to take herself any further then a light fifteen minute sprint.

Still, progress was progress.

After about an hour or so of more walking, with Naruto and Tayuya once again side-by-side and their fox friend also accompanying them, the pair became a bit bemused.

Counting the up the days, they suddenly realized that it had been quite a while since the last time they came across a village.

Actually… double-checking, it had been a _really_ long time since the pair had last encountered _any_ settlements at all.

They hadn't come across any villages or farms for at least five days, and stopping for a moment in the middle of a hilly, forested road, they looked ahead of them through the tunnel of trees, and then back towards the path they had already followed. Quiet and calm, Tayuya folded her arms and looked around, furrowing her brow, whereas Naruto simply had his hands in his pockets, as he studied their surroundings casually.

"Where the hell are we?"

"Somewhere near the _Land of Wind_, if that road sign a few miles back was correct," the blonde replied in equal tone.

The fox standing in their shadows yawned, expressing her own opinion on their situation.

However, a scent on a light breeze unexpectedly caught her attention, and her ears perked up. Looking left and right, a quick sniff of the air pointed the mammal in the direction of some bushes nearby. So, dropping low, the fox quickly hurried over to the trees, with Naruto and Tayuya following her with their eyes as they watched her dart through the short grass and between rocks.

Surprisingly, they watched as the animal made a dive for the thick shrubbery. A few seconds later, after a fit of thrashing leaves and a chorus of growls, she finally leapt back into sight, in pursuit of what Naruto and Tayuya first perceived to be a really small cat. However, after the light brown, furry creature made the short ten meter dash across the grass towards the pair, they then discovered that it wasn't a cat…

It was in fact, a ferret!

Squeaking in distress, the ferret ran for Tayuya and quickly clambered up her leg, and the fox tried to follow. The redhead stumbled in surprise and cursed when the little animal clambered around her shoulders, scratching her in the process, and sought refuge atop of her head. The sudden weight caused her to stagger, and she yelped when the little animal's claws dug in. In the tussle, her cap was made lopsided by her new commuter.

"Ow! What the fuck?" Tayuya shouted, as Naruto watched on curiously as his friend nearly tripped at the commotion. The little animal perched on her cap hissed down at its equally agitated chaser.

The fox barked as she tried to scale Tayuya in pursuit of her quarry, but was unable to, due to the girl's height and angle. The redhead, in annoyance, gently lifted the fox up with her foot and moved her to the side, while it continued to paw away, trying to get to the other animal.

"Deal with Luka, would you!" Tayuya growled, keeping her balance, and making a grab for the ferret on top of her.

Naruto sweat dropped oddly.

"You named the fox?" the blonde murmured, glancing down at the red mammal still struggling to get to the 'rat'. At this point, Tayuya was getting a bit fed up, as her cap and the ferret on top of it slid over her face, with the animal's tail swatting at her ear, cheeks, nostrils, and the nape of her neck.

"Damn it! Just take her, would you?"

Naruto shrugged and stepped over, reaching down to pick up the flailing fox and securing her in his arms. Luka, as named by the kunoichi, continued to growl and bark at the ferret, who hissed back with surprising aggression.

With the other troublemaker out of the picture and buckled down by her companion's arms, Tayuya was able to pull the ferret off of her head, its claws still grabbing her cap. She took the purple cap from the animal, and slipped it back on, though it was still slightly lopsided. Holding the ferret out at arms length so that it didn't scratch her, the shinobi looked it up and down, taking in its size, color and appearance.

It was definitely an average sized ferret, with really light brown fur, black hind legs and front paws, and an odd texturing of black fur over its eyes and head, giving it an almost mask covered face. Furthermore, it had a black tip at the end of its tale and glowing, ruby red eyes; this being the defining feature of the little animal.

Tayuya tilted its head at it, and watched as it flailed a bit, before relaxing in her grip. A second later, the animal suddenly performed a highly flexible, acrobatic maneuver, and managed to clamber out of the girl's grip and along her arm, before nestling on her shoulders. The girl blinked in surprise, but then giggled and petted the little critter as it nuzzled the side of her face.

"My… you're friendly, aren't you," she exclaimed, stroking the animal's head as it purred happily. She then glanced over at Naruto, to see him still holding the agitated fox firmly in his arms, and looking over at the other newcomer with a blank expression on his face. When he looked back at the kunoichi, she smirked at him. "What say you? Skin, cook and eat him for dinner?"

"W-What? No! What is wrong with you?"

"I'm just kidding," Tayuya giggled, and allowed the ferret to remain draped comfortably over her shoulders. She looked it up and down, marveling at its fur patterns and its friendly nature. "If he's this tame, then he must have come from a nearby village or town… or he may have separated from a traveling peddler or family."

"My guess is the former," Naruto tilted his head at it, reaching up and placing the fox he was holding on his own shoulder. He stepped back a little, allowing his passenger to grow more comfortable in the presence of the other mammal. After all, they didn't want the two fur balls killing each other.

"Hey, if we take him back to his owners, maybe they'll give us free lodgings," Tayuya grinned brightly in a very Naruto like manner, which he took as a little odd, given her usual personality. "I feel like scrounging some good-will today? What about you, shithead?"

"Stop calling me that," the blonde murmured, before smiling. "Let's just be cool about it. We don't even know where this little guy came from…" He then emphasized the ferret again, who curled its body up, and was now genuinely lying across the girl's shoulders. "Strange… I've never seen a ferret like this one before…"

"Maybe if we continue following this road, we might come across this rat's home town," Tayuya suggested, turning and pointing in the direction they were heading. She then redirected her gaze back towards her teammate with a shrug. "Another sign from the universe?"

"I guess," Naruto smirked. "Alright then. Let's go!" The blonde exclaimed, pointing up the road in a cheesy pose, and marching off with a spring in his step. "I smell adventure, and I'm all for it!" Tayuya looked on in amusement as she her companion took the lead, and followed suit at a more labored pace, listening to him hum to himself with the fox still perched on his shoulder, and the ferret draped safely over her own shoulders.

"_I like you better this way, Uzumaki. Bright, loud, happy… it lets me know you're a nice guy and not some shady emo…"_

_

* * *

_

_**After another couple miles of hiking…**_

Naruto and Tayuya were soon face to face with a bridge; one that stretched across what they first thought was the entrance to the underworld. But shockingly enough, it wasn't. What they had before them was a rickety conduit, stretching a significant distance over a gaping chasm, dividing their side of the land, from the other side where their destination was. It was immense! The drop was just sheer and the fact that there was a warning sign at the entrance of the overpass meant that neither shinobi were moving from their spot to test the architectural quality of the narrow causeway. Despite this thought, the two of them were imagining every possible alternative to what _could_ happen if they were to set foot on that death trap.

Thoughts ranged from the planks giving out to the whole darn thing caving in on itself and sending them plummeting to their God-knows-how-long-their-falls-will-be deaths.

Even the fox and the ferret, both of whom had been relinquished from their owners' grips, were hesitating about crossing the bridge.

Naruto looked down curiously, and with a light-weighted step, placed his foot on the walkway in front of him, testing the structure's integrity.

The moment his foot made contact, literally, one of the poles shifted, and a loose plank a few feet ahead gave way, and went plummeting into the abyss below. All four of them watched as the small section of walkway disappeared into oblivion.

"Fuck this!" Tayuya made a perfect 180 degree turn and immediately set off on a quick retreat, only to have Naruto grab her by the arm and stop her.

"Hey, come on. Don't be like that, Tayuya-chan," the blonde grinned at her when he spun her back around so that she was once again facing _Hell's Catwalk_. "Look, this is the only bridge leading across to the other side of this cliff for miles, and any other way across would mean scaling this chasm down to the bottom and then back up again. Besides, it's perfectly safe."

"Perfectly safe?" Tayuya repeated in an incredulous tone of voice, earning a cheerful nod from the blonde as he stood, visibly confident in the bridge's quality, despite the dramatic occurrence seconds beforehand, with one hand in his pocket and the other one clasping her arm in a secure grip.

The redhead double-checked the structure, looking from the bridge in front of her, to the other side, and then down towards where the bottom of the cliff was, if there was one.

It took her only a few seconds to come up with a solid conclusion. She cleared her throat and turned to him, poking him in the chest.

"You're fucking insane," the kunoichi stated.

"Insane?"

"Yup! Prove me wrong, shit-for-brains!"

"Come again?"

Tayuya gestured grandly towards the walkway in front of him, stepping back a pace at the same time.

"I dare you to walk across this bridge," the redhead exclaimed, promptly placing her hands on her hips. "Make it to the other side, and I'll follow after you without question or hesitation!"

"What? Oh, hell no!" Naruto stepped away in response, waving a hand in between them. "I was going to propose 'ladies first'… it's a rule of life. You can't do this to me!"

"Okay. Tell you what," Tayuya reached into her pocket, and pulled out a twenty ryu note and waved it in front of him. "I'll bet you lunch if you can make it across to the other side… _alive_."

"Nope." Naruto stuck his nose in the air, turned away, and folded his arms. "Still not doing it."

"Alright then; lunch _and_ dinner," Tayuya pulled out some more notes and clapped them together, waving them like a fan at her face. The blonde cracked an eye to see the amount, as well as the smirking kunoichi holding said cash. "Fifteen bowls of ramen for tea, and I'll even throw in a soda."

Naruto considered her offer, and looked from her to the cash in hand several times. A moment of inner deliberation later, he turned towards her and nodded his head firmly, yet maintained his arms folded assertion.

"Throw in ten sticks of dango and I'll do it," the blonde stated.

"Five."

"Eight."

"Seven."

"Done," Naruto submitted, and shook hands with his kunoichi companion, before turning to face his challenge.

Taking in a deep breath of air, he slowly, but surely, began making his way across the bridge. The wood creaked beneath his feet, announcing the exhaustion in its design from possibly years of water, rain, wind, and sun damage. He was grateful it did not sway in the breeze or buckle from his steps, as it signified that it barely had enough strength and stability behind it to hold him up. However, he knew that the hardest part was getting to half-way, so when he did arrive at the dead center of the causeway, he was relieved, and started the rest of the way to the other end.

He paused briefly, and turned around, wanting to tease Tayuya a little with a grin and a wave. The girl shook her head at him and folded her arms in disappointment, looking away with a huff.

"Yeah, yeah… big deal. You're the man… _you lucky_ _ass…_" she mumbled the last part under her breath.

"It's perfectly fine Tayuya-chan… you can start walking acro-_**GAAAHHHH!"**_ Naruto's words suddenly trailed off in a shout of surprise when the surface beneath him unexpectedly gave way and he fell straight through. He was able to react in time to grab hold of the rope suspension holding the wood in place before he fell completely through, and was now dangling thousands of feet above the direct route to the center of the earth.

"NARUTO!" Tayuya shouted, quickly rushing to see if he was alright, but hesitated for a moment at the mouth of the bridge when it creaked beneath her feet. Considering her chances, she gritted her teeth and cursed outright. "Fuck… if I die…" Carefully, making sure that her steps were light and balanced around the center, she quickly jogged her way over to where Naruto was hanging, and looked over to see if he was alive.

The blonde gulped as he watched the pieces of the bridge fall away beneath him, echoing as it bounced off of the stone walls of the cliffs around it, and break into splinters with every tumble. Clearing his head and thanking his luck, he pulled himself out, with Tayuya grabbing his arm to help him back up onto the bridge. Gasping for breath, Naruto clutched his throbbing heart as he and Tayuya laid out over the planks, and glared over his shoulder towards the hole he had created.

"Dang… that was close…" he sighed, and looked up towards his friend with a sheepish grin. "Thanks…"

"Don't mention it. Now let's get the hell off of this death trap," Tayuya said, and slowly rose to her feet along with her partner.

Together, they safely made it to the other side, with the fox and the ferret following after them once they confirmed that the pair safely made it. After all, humans weighed more then them, so the sight of them making it to the other end of the bridge was all the admission they needed to go over themselves.

They quickly rejoined the shinobi, and hopping onto their respective favorites' shoulders (the fox with Naruto and the ferret with Tayuya), the odd group marched on.

Earlier at the mouth of the bridge, both of the young shinobi had noticed that there was a small village up on the hills near the cliffs some distance away, so that meant there were people in the vicinity.

And where there were people, there were also lodgings and restaurants.

Spurred on by the thought of a descent meal, sleep, and the prospects of returning the ferret to his home if it was, the pair hastened their walk. All the while, their animal company enjoyed their coach rides, and the two young ninja kept their ears and minds open to their surroundings.

While they were following the winding road up towards the village in the distance, Tayuya paused for a moment when she noticed something peculiar. After walking for the past half hour, while being so close to civilization, something about the aspects of the countryside and footpath they were following, made her do a double take, and forced her to a dead stop.

Naruto responded to the girl's sudden braking, and with his hands in his pockets, glanced around at her with a puzzled look. The animals also became aware of the problem Tayuya detected, and fidgeted nervously where they were, sniffing the air and looking around them.

"What is it?"

"Have you noticed something off about this area?" Tayuya asked, looking back down at the blonde. The teen blinked and looked around, doing a complete 360 degree turn, before returning his attention to his companion.

His raised eyebrow, and the fact that his exhausted and curious expression quickly transformed into more of a serious outlook, meant that he also caught onto what was troubling the kunoichi so.

"Now that you mention it…"

Both he and Tayuya looked over the treetops at the side of the road, in the direction of where the village was. Though they could see rice fields and crops on the visible valley slopes, the tree line on the horizon obscured much of the town, where they could see small columns of smoke rising into the air. Of course, conditions of the village aside, the smoke could mean that the people had fireplaces or boilers up and running or that they were burning sugarcane. However, there was the other aspect that struck the young pair the most.

"It's the middle of the day, and there isn't a single person in sight," Naruto pointed out.

"Not a fucking soul. No road traffic, no farmers, no children… fuck, it's too quiet," Tayuya stated, holding up a hand to her ear to pick up any signs of life.

Any resonance of human activity was dulled out by the sounds of nature, and that didn't help at all. However, even Naruto knew it was too quiet.

Luka the fox, and the ferret, were also becoming visibly more nervous. They barked lightly to announce their distress.

"I don't like this," Naruto murmured, reaching into his back pouch and pulling out his mask. He clapped it over his face and secured it, in preparation for anything unsavory that might come their way. He then quickly picked up Luka from his shoulder and carefully slipped her into his backpack. Insuring that she was comfortable amongst his bundle of clothes, he then prepped his material for close quarter combat, and flung his pack onto his shoulders.

Tayuya did the same with the ferret, popping the animal into her bag and zipping it up, before securing it over her own shoulders. With that done, she unclasped the holster containing her flute for quick access.

"We'll run recon," the redhead stated, nodding towards her now masked partner. "What do you say? Walk straight up the middle into the hotspot, or split and come around on the flanks?"

Naruto looked left and right briefly, taking a moment of analysis and thought. Seconds later, he squatted low, and placing his hand on the ground. He left it there for some time, giving the two of them a moment of pause and the area a better go over. Then, shortly following his professional display, he stood back up and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"We're too far up the road. If we wanted to go around, we should have done so the moment we got off the bridge," he said, his voice muffled slightly by his mask. He turned his eyes back on Tayuya, to see her nod in agreement. "I bet you that if there is anyone watching us nearby… and there probably is, then they would already know that we're here…"

"Right, so fuck going around," the redhead stated, and both of them glared in the direction of the winding path before them. "I guess that means we go with _Plan A_…"

* * *

_**A few minutes later…**_

"Hmph… and I guess it's safe to say that nobody is fucking home," Tayuya shrugged indignantly, while glaring around at her new surroundings, as was her partner.

After making their way slowly up the road, the two odd shinobi soon found themselves within the picketed fences of the small village on the cliffs. Having half expected to find people, as well as untouched buildings and well tended landscapes, what they got instead, was a ruined, war-torn landscape. The homes that were once filled with families were all caved in or burned down, the front and backyards once filled with flowers and trees were dotted with craters, and businesses and other structures were simply brought to their knees… literally. To Naruto, it looked like hell had just been in and out. To Tayuya, it reminded her of the work Orochimaru did single-handedly to any small towns that didn't comply with his laws or policies.

_**This**_ had often been the result.

Naruto broke off a bit, hands still in his pockets as he analyzed the scope of the damage. It did come to him as a bit of a shock, as it showed on his face. Fortunately though, he masked any emotion or surprise he had with his Hunter-Nin guise, and just settled for staring.

On the other hand, his companion was, in fact, crest-fallen at the very sight of the devastated town before her, as the pictures and images she could see took her back to the days when she was a member of the _Sound Four_, and her team was tasked with missions that required the lot of them to reduce any opposing forces, including their families and towns, to ashes. In truth, Tayuya wasn't proud of what she did, and she gritted her teeth angrily at having done so.

She shook her head to clear herself of any thoughts or memories arising from those days, wanting nothing more than to forget about them.

The kunoichi growled and hit herself in the face when the images persisted, catching her companion's attention.

"Something wrong?"

"No… no… just… _bad_ memories," Tayuya snapped back. She then sighed in resignation, and waved a hand at him. "It's nothing… really…"

"Alright then…"

Naruto chose to settle for that answer, and didn't press for information.

After walking around aimlessly for a bit, searching for any clues or survivors, the pair decided to pitch it in early, and eventually arrived on the other edge of town, opting to discuss the current situation and sights.

"Judging from the extent and details of the damage, this couldn't have happened too long ago," Tayuya stated, rounding on her partner with her hands on her hips. "That means there may still be scouts in the area…"

"There aren't even any bodies lying around," Naruto replied, also turning towards the girl. "That means either the village was empty to begin with, the villagers cleared out before the attack, or they were all disintegrated. My guess is that this place was already devoid of life before the buildings were demolished…"

"But who could have done this?" Tayuya wondered, rubbing her chin in thought. "Fuck… if this was Orochi-cockers work, then he's got one fat stick up his ass for doing this…"

"…or it could be the three guys hiding in the bushes behind us…"

Naruto's words came out deathly serious, which the kunoichi immediately registered to. Reacting quickly, the girl looked over the boy's shoulder and then upwards. The blonde also spun around, eyes turning skywards to meet the newly detected threat, as three juggernaut figures, clad in dark, heavy armor, suddenly leapt out of the trees, soared through the air, and descended towards them with weapons in hand. The two shinobi caught sight of the unusual melee weapons they wielded, and not wanting to be on the receiving end of them, swiftly leapt out of the way.

The shadows of the armored warriors hit the ground a split second before they did, and they crashed weapons first into the dirt road, attempting to flatten their targets. But Naruto and Tayuya broke up beforehand, and giving themselves some fighting room, made a hasty retreat.

The towering warriors, though heavy looking, turned out to be really light on their toes, and they pursued their nimble targets with little effort.

Naruto took to the undergrowth, with two of the three suits of armor chasing him, charging through the trees and bushes without any signs of slowing down. The pair attacked with reckless abandon, striking at the short ninja with wide swings in typical fighting form, maintaining distance between themselves so they wouldn't hit each other by accident. However, the jinchuriki was quick, and the blonde managed to keep ahead of them, back-flipping through the air and leaping from rock, to branch, to low ground, avoiding their attacks.

Their spiked maces shattered stone and wood with every swing, giving Naruto all the more reason not to get hit by them.

"_Who the heck are these guys? They're definitely not ninja!"_ the blonde thought, landing against the side of a nearby tree on one of his jumps.

The two lumbering figures quick-marched towards him, weapons held up high, readying for another attack.

Pushing off, Naruto leapt at the one ahead, spinning into a side-kick, which he landed against its chest armor. The blow echoed in the form of a loud clang, as the unknown warrior was knocked staggering by the smaller boy, but was ultimately left undamaged. Furrowing his brow in frustration, the masked Naruto pressed on with his assault, by using his opponent as a step ladder, slamming his other foot into the armored foe's face plating, and leaping straight up into the air and over the now stumbling soldier.

Its companion stepped away, watching as their target took to the air high above them.

In his haste to avoid attack, Naruto immediately spotted an obvious flaw in their armor's design out of the corner of his eye

"_Well… if the exterior's built solid…"_

Performing an artistic flip in order to maneuver himself, the young Genin took aim and with a swift draw, flung a kunai straight down towards the warrior he had just jumped off of, a tag tied to its end. The lumbering giant had little time to react, as it was turning to face its target, it was suddenly hit squarely between the eyes of the gap in its visor by the flying knife. Though the blade didn't at all hamper its line of sight or cause it any physical trauma, it was still caught by surprise.

"_You've gotta take it out from the inside."_

Landing atop of the canopy of another tree some distance away, Naruto was able to adjust his crouched position just in time to watch his Paper Bomb ignite, and detonate in a fiery cloud of smoke, blowing the warrior's upper body up and engulfing the rest of him in a hot ash cloud. Just as the wall of smoke faded and the debris began raining down, the bottom legs of the former giant collapsed.

What came out of it its lower armor was nothing but black sludge, no blood at all.

Its partner's response didn't go beyond a simple blink, as it focused all of its attention on its now recognizably dangerous target.

Naruto smirked at the success of his kill.

"One down; two more to go!"

Tayuya on the other hand, in a post-recovery state, was having a smidge of trouble moving around. Her legs wouldn't move as her reflexes dictated, so she was at least a second slower then she was previously, and that meant trouble.

The girl leapt through the air when the bulky warrior brought its large mace down on her, the spiky ball slamming into the ground with incredible, brute force, sending chunks of earth and a cloud of dust flying into the air. The redhead managed a swift flip, and landed a safe distance away, skidding to a stop.

Drawing her flute, the girl twirled it between her fingers expertly, before bringing it up to her lips. She watched as the dust cloud faded, and the giant of a warrior once again reacquire her in its sights.

Bringing its mace back up into a two-handed grip, it started lumbering towards her again.

"Try this on for size, big boy," Tayuya exclaimed, before beginning her melody.

A sharp musical tone filled the air as she initiated her first attack upon her target. The beautiful sounds spelled certain doom for those it was used against and whatever was able to register to it. Within seconds, it reached the large marching warrior, and hit it headlong like it was responding to a high-pitched wail at pointblank range.

At first, it looked as though the waves were effectively lulling it into paralysis, as the sounds induced an illusion that distorted the world around it, and continued to do so until the victim passed out. However, as the kunoichi continued to play, and the suit of armor continued to stagger around where it was, Tayuya received quite a shock when her opponent suddenly broke out of its trance, and lunged at her with unanticipated speed.

Astounded that it was able to break through her barrier of notes, she back-flipped away, avoiding its huge club as it swung at her to rid itself of its torment.

Gaining distance, she crouched upon landing and glared her target down. The bulky, drone of a soldier did the same thing.

Knowing she was at odds in close-combat and her genjutsu had no affect, she only had one other option. She bit her thumb, drawing blood.

"I see. Either your armor's shape helps deflect the sound waves, or you're immune to the affects of genjutsu altogether," Tayuya stated, smearing the blood between her finger tips and palm. "Nevertheless, there is a trump to every foe…"

The huge warrior didn't respond, and simply took up its melee weapon again, and started towards her. She couldn't tell whether it was getting frustrated or not, but just to be on the safe side, she had to end this quickly.

She grinned smugly. "You may be bigger then me, but I've got something that can easily deal with you!" Her exclamation was followed by her slamming her hand onto the ground. The result; an artistic circle of seal patterns expanded around her in the blink of an eye, with the technique activating at her command. "_Summoning Jutsu_!"

A white cloud of smoke exploded around her, fogging her from view of the giant suit of armor still marching en route for her position. It raised its mace, preparing to strike her down as soon as it was in range and sight. However, a gentle flute note and a low growl later, the unknown warrior soon found itself surrounded by a large shadow. It looked up just in time to see the gargantuan club of a behemoth descend towards it, a second before it was pan caked by an earth shaking blow.

Pretty much squashed beneath the goliath of a steel club, the armored foe was dead in seconds, and the cloud of smoke cleared shortly afterward its demise, revealing a gargantuan titan wearing a dark green, full body suit, with long hair covering its entire head and face. Its club was held in a solid grip, and perched atop of its shoulder, was a smirking Tayuya.

"That's right you blithering dumbass! You'd better think twice before you fuck with me!"

Naruto sensed that his friend had dealt with the other troublemaker, and so set to work dealing with the last one.

He hopped back along the ground, keeping on his toes as he dodged one swing after another from his much larger opponent. The armored warrior lunged after him in a quick job, bringing its mace back over its shoulder with every strike. Eventually, the juggernaut's attack pattern and efforts paid off, as he soon managed to drive the masked ninja into the side of a tree, where the boy remained, paying little mind to the obstacle behind him.

Naruto timed himself and the warrior's movements, waiting in the shadow of the oak.

"I've never tried this move on a live target before. But I guess you'll have to do," the blonde exclaimed.

The suit of armor then crouched, and charged its target down, swinging its mace around in a powerful attack. The Genin crouched as well, and pushed off of the tree swiftly, ducking under the large man's swing and slamming his hand into the soldier's chest. Quickly pumping chakra into his palm, he then released it as he had practiced…

The result of his new attack was instantaneous.

"_Spontaneous Particle Combustion!"_

The warrior was blasted back in a white cloud of gushing hot smoke, as heat from the combusting armor detonated simultaneously. Its armor was literally blasted apart on contact, and in the whirlwind of smoke and debris, black globs of matter joined the pieces of armor, and scattered the ground for yards. The splatters of black indicated the soldier's blood, as it was reduced to bite-sized segments within the explosion of hot steam. Before Naruto's very eyes, his opponent was nothing more then debris on the wind.

He flexed his hand, still steaming at the palm, and nodded, affirming his success.

"That worked better then I first thought. Wow." Naruto straightened up and dusted his hand down.

Thinking it was over, he prepared to head on his way to rejoin Tayuya, but became distracted by the presence of yet another foe nearby.

Stopping, and glancing over his shoulder, the masked boy spotted the telltale signs of a forth onlooker. Immediately upon making his mark, the blonde shinobi noted that the figure wore a similar armor to the drones he and Tayuya had been fighting; only his build was more sleek and dynamic, and the plating was white.

Furthermore, unlike the other lumbering giants, this towering figure had long blonde hair and a sword, and piercing, ruby red eyes that glared at the Genin from underneath the visor.

His presence acknowledged by Naruto himself, the newcomer raised his right hand towards his target, and gestured with an immediate _thumbs-down_. The masked ninja took that confrontational hand sign as a promising challenge.

The jinchuriki furrowed his brow with a small, cocky smirk under his mask.

"Oh, so you want to fight too?"

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	8. Knight vs Ninja

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Knight vs Ninja_

The man in white armor flinched when a flicker of wind soared right by him, and a second later, he was surrounded by five copies of the masked foe before him, all of them flickering into view right out of thin-air itself. Immediately, all of them made a dash for him at the middle, dust kicking up in their charges. The original Naruto, standing at a safe distance from his target, suddenly dropped to one knee and slammed his hand into the ground, deciding to test this new, seemingly more formidable warrior at a reserved pace, while keeping an extra eye out for anymore problems.

"_He's definitely not like those other drones,"_ the blonde thought, furrowing his brow. _"Let's see what he can do…"_

The five clones stacked up their attacks, the two coming from the front lining up one after the other in their dash, with the one from behind leaping over the one up front, and diving straight at the new enemy from up high. Bayonet drawn from its sheath, the Naruto clone struck out with the flash of metal, only for the armored warrior to suddenly slip around the thrust in a quick side-step. In one swift, fluent motion, the armored man reached up and grabbed the back of the clone's head.

The armor-clad fighter followed through with the grapple, using the momentum of the clone's overshot lunge to unexpectedly throw him into its counterpart attacking from behind. The result was inevitably a collision between the two doppelgangers, which tumbled into the ground and into a painful, crumpled heap.

Perfect timing added to the warrior's shocking reflexes, the young man spinning around to reengage the copies, dodging the second clone coming at him from ahead, and allowing him to pass through into his defenses. The knight's evasion was quickly followed up by a combination, of an elbow to the back of the clone's neck, knocking him stumbling over, a swift right knee up into the stomach of another clone, sending him hurling backwards through the air, and finally, a backward right hit over the shoulder to another clone attempting an attack from his blind spot, batting it aside with ease.

Reassuming a normal standing position in the middle of the clearing, the knight turned back towards the original, still kneeling just meters in front of him, and with a quick hand gesture, all of the clones that had attempted to attack him all popped out of existence simultaneously.

All that remained of them was a thin layer of white fog hanging in the air when the clouds dissipated.

The counters the armored warrior stepped through, one after the other without fault, were executed with hardly any effort exerted whatsoever. This surprised Naruto a bit, but from his position, he was able to deduce several things about his new opponent.

The first thing was that this man was much stronger than the drones Naruto defeated beforehand. This easily placed him in a class of his own. Judging from his fluent movements and strength displayed when batting away the shadow clones, the warrior was easily stronger than Sasuke and Neji. Secondly, the notable steel, mesh and flexi armor adorned upon the man's tunic didn't hamper the knight's speed at all, indicating that he has had years of practice wearing it to allow him to move as smoothly as he did. However, this also lead Naruto to another conclusion that his movements may be limited to a strict vertical style of combat, in which he maintained a solid center of defense within a reasonable distance, allowing him to attack or defend in any given direction, as indicated how he was able to cut down the clones one after the other on a five-pronged approach.

However, he saw that the armor had a weakness.

The plating hampered the man's movements somewhat, meaning that he couldn't attack through overbearing agility or acrobatics. Plus, with that much armor, it had to weigh him down somewhat. Naruto figured he had an advantage there.

Wiping a thumb over his mask, as if he were wiping his nose down at the conclusion of his assessment, the blonde rose to his feet with his hands held firmly at his sides. His trench coat was ruffled by a breeze on his return to a standing position, just like his opponent's red and turquoise cape.

"You're strong," Naruto confirmed, now deciding to take this guy on more seriously. Just as he was glaring the knight down, he was receiving a similar treatment in return. The fight quickly turned from petty amateur squabbling, to a now more dangerous standoff. "Well… what are you waiting for? Let's do this…"

Naruto clicked his wrist, and in the blink of an eye, three kunai slid in between the gaps of his fingers. In a blur of movement, the Genin ducked low and threw the knives at the knight, one blade followed by two others, which cut through the air straight towards the warrior, ignoring any form of opposing air currents. The armored man acted quickly in response to the attack, bringing his left arm up and holding the foreside up in front of him at his defense. Unexpectedly, a sheet of metal sprang up, revealing a small contraption on the underside to be a retractable shield.

The small disk of plates blocked the first, second and third kunai effortlessly. But the third blade had a little surprised tied to the end of it, and the warrior was exceptionally shocked when it went off in his face.

The explosion from the detonating tag rocked the earth, burnt the nearby foliage, split the ground, and blasted the target with red hot smoke, ash and dust. The knight was absolutely staggered by the sheer magnitude of the igniting paper bomb, and this showed when he stumbled backwards, out of the black cloud of smoke, the shield attached to his arm broken and burnt, and much of his body singed from the fire.

Falling to one knee, the young warrior hunched over and allowed himself to smolder for a few seconds as he recovered from the shockwave. However, he barely had any time to completely regain his bearings, when Naruto unexpectedly came barreling through the hanging cloud seconds later, lunging with his bayonet in hand.

The warrior's eyes flew open and glared up, spotting the incoming threat and reacting instantly. Reaching behind him, he drew out a short-bladed sword, and with movement equal to that of his opponent's, lashed out with it.

Sparks flew when their blades clashed, and Naruto's bayonet was knocked away into an arc over his head. The blonde however, performed a quick recovery, and came back in with another powerful slash, locking blades again and again, with his opponent quickly leaping to his feet to gain control over the engagement. The knight retreated step-by-step, giving himself some reasonable room between himself and the masked warrior. He was incredibly weary, and working with quite a bit of difficulty to block the incoming attacks coming from the boy and his knife.

Naruto changed tactics in mid-fight, suddenly changing from seemingly reckless and complex slashes to simple thrusts and parries. The obviously shorter individual suddenly slid into the armored warrior's defensive circle, and swiftly began slashing and thrusting with well-aimed and timed strikes, forcing the knight back more and more. All the while, the blonde further studied the man's movements, up to the point when he drove him back into a tree.

Seizing the opportunity, Naruto lunged in with his bayonet. However, a flash of metal and a shower of sparks later, and the blonde soon found himself grappling with his mysterious, foreign counterpart. His blade locked against the cutting side of the sword being held up in a firm, two-handed grip, and Naruto forced himself in, pushing forward with his blade in an attempt to get it through. However, amidst the sparks and the sharp grinding of steel on steel, he just couldn't break the defense, and was eventually, and gradually, pushed back by an unexpected show of force from his armored opponent.

With a burst of strength, the white knight pushed Naruto off of him and slashed out with his sword, only for the masked Genin to back flip in a hasty retreat.

In his acrobatic maneuver to avoid the slash, Naruto reached into the two pouches on his back, and with quick hand work, tossed a barrage of shuriken at the warrior before eventually landing a safe distance away.

The knight crouched up against the tree and brought both arms up, the shuriken bouncing off of his armor one after the other. When the rain of deadly weapons was over, the knight pushed off of the tree and lunged at his opponent. A quick spin of his sword to assume the correct hand position, and the young warrior struck out at Naruto in an attempted spear attack, who quickly shimmied back, and brought his bayonet up to defend.

With the sharp edge of his blade, Naruto caught the tip of his opponent's sword, and once he did so, he bit and held a solid defense as both weapons ground into one other. However, being the lighter of the two, the young jinchuriki suddenly felt himself sliding back along the ground. Despite his feet grinding into the earth, he was unable to fully wall up the man's brute strength, yet still managed to hold up a reasonable defense.

Breaking off, Naruto leapt away and avoided another strike. Back-flipping, Naruto landed on his hand and pushed off, at the same time reaching into his jacket and grabbing a fist-full of kunai, throwing it at his opponent as he retreated. The white knight blocked the incoming weapons, careful not to fall for another exploding tag, before charging again.

Naruto landed and drew a kunai to join his bayonet in his opposite hand, and charged to meet the warrior half-way across the field. Their weapons clashed and sparks flew when they rushed passed each other. Spinning around, they met each other again, and started exchanging strikes, slashes and thrusts with each other. Sparks flew between their lashing blades, which filled the surrounding area with sounds of clanging metal.

The two carried out the engagement all over the clearing, driving each other back. Naruto was kicked into a tree, and forced to duck a decapitating blow, before leaping up and upper-cutting his foe with a clenched fist. This staggering blow sent the knight toppling over, although he was able to roll back up and onto his feet to meet his opponent lunging at him again. To which the knight responded with an unfailing defense, parrying the boy's duel held knives coming at him from left, right, above, below and center. Eventually, after being driven back several paces again, the pair once more locked in a grapple, Naruto's knives crossing over to block a vertical strike from the knight.

Pushing against the opposing force, the knight and the ninja glared each other down, piercing red eyes meeting piercing blue. Even though they couldn't see each other's faces, these were the only defining traits they could recognize from the other person.

Eventually, Naruto broke the engagement, throwing his opponent off with brute force, and causing the knight to stumble back. The blonde then leapt forward and kicked him in the chest armor, before leaping over him in a flip to avoid an attempted stab. However, the moment he landed behind the knight to attack from his blind-spot, the young jinchuriki unintentionally left himself wide open, and the warrior spun around and swiftly side-kicked him in the chest, sending Naruto flying into the tree line.

Naruto spun wildly through the bushes and trees on his brief flight, cascading through various branches and foliage, before crash-landing into another clearing beyond the wall of natural formations. This time the surface was pure rock and grass, and the boy tumbled over it, until he managed to bring himself back onto all fours and slide to a stop, just shy of the edge of the shockingly deep chasm beside the village.

He spared a glance back to the cliffs behind him, sweating at his proximity.

Detecting a shadow, Naruto looked straight up into the air above him to see his opponent descending towards his position; sword drawn back and ready to strike. The man came down at him with a yell of effort, and drove the full force behind his weapon upon his target.

Naruto took this as his chance.

Remaining crouched, he formed his technique specific hand seal.

"_I doubt that heavy armor will slow your fall!"_

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A ring of white clouds exploded directly beneath the approaching knight, and in the blink of an eye, five exact copies of Naruto flew skywards directly towards their target. The armored boy barely had time to react when a copy in front of him suddenly thrust his foot straight up into his chin. The blow literally knocked him into a flip, as well as in an upward directing. This left his back wide open for attack.

Forming a pentagon around the knight, the five clones took this chance and began thrusting kicks up into his back chassis. With every kick, they chanted the syllables…

"_**U-ZU-MA-KI!"**_ Each kick sent the knight ever higher, the assault nearly knocking the man out at the ferocity and precision of their attacks. It was only when he reached a substantial height above the ground, the clones made their final maneuver.

Moving through the air, the copies allowed the stunned armored warrior to begin a short descent, before they all launched their timed combo. The group of five thrust gravity-assisted, power-enhanced punches straight into the boy's chest armor, the fists connecting all at once, and sending their foe dropping faster than a stone, _**"NARUTO RENDAN!"**_

A short fall later and the knight crashed straight into the ground in an earth shattering landing. An explosion of dust and debris shot skywards at the force of the collision between the two solid entities. Because the surface was made of stone, it meant the damage had to be far more severe then on soft soil.

The clones eventually dropped into formation around the newly formed crater, and from where they knelt, waited patiently for the smoke to clear.

The original Naruto hung back, and watched his clones surround the cloud of dust. He kept his senses in tuned with his opponent, wondering whether or not that attack did the trick.

However, he found out soon enough that it didn't.

All of a sudden, a torrent of green energy rocketed out of the crater and into the sky, eclipsing the sun briefly, before soon transforming into a tornado, which ripped away the clouds of dust and debris, and sending gale winds in every direction. The shockwave on its appearance staggered the clones, opening them up to attack when the green, liquid-like wind suddenly broke apart into separate streams, and struck down the squad of clones, one after the other. The torrents then reformed into a single entity, and shaping into a miniature wave, then aimed directly for the original by the cliff.

Naruto blinked in shock at the homing abilities of the technique, and quickly leapt out of the way to avoid it. The river of energy crashed into the rocky surface he once stood upon, and in a colossal display of destructive power, tore that section of cliff away and sent it tumbling into the ravine below.

Not wanting to get caught up in the shockwave, while in mid-jump and hanging directly over the collapsing section of land, Naruto swiftly threw his left hand out, and threw an aerodynamic counter-weight tied to a wire towards a nearby tree. The end wrapped around the branch tightly, and with one pull, the wire retracted him towards the branch. A short flight later, he arrived at the tree, where he flipped around the branch, and landed atop of it, perching himself at a safe distance from ground zero.

Looking back towards the crater where the attack originated from, he saw that the knight was back on his feet, and very much alive, albeit a few tears in his cape, and several indents in his armor. On his knees, he glared up towards his target, who had taken the high ground once again.

After his unsuccessful attempt to cut down his opponent with his energy attack, he rose to his feet, sword in hand, and prepared for a second assault.

Naruto blinked in surprise when he noticed that the weapon had elongated, and was coated in the same green energy that was used against him. It was wafting off of the stainless steel blade like a green flame, and through his senses alone, the blonde knew that it was powerful, highly potent stuff, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

"_That's no ordinary chakra. There's so much of it…"_

The fight so far had knocked the wind out of Naruto, and he had taken quite a number of bruises, particularly during the lengthy kenjutsu match in which physical blows had been exchanged. However, looking at his opponent, the Genin was astounded to see that despite the hits he had taken himself, he was barely grazed. His clone barrage combo should have knocked him out from the height of the drop alone or at least should have put some damage on him. But the warrior was proving to be incredibly durable, as well as a formidable challenge.

Not to mention the hits Naruto had taken from him were incredibly strong. Every time the guy punched or kicked, the young Genin felt like he was being hit by an anvil.

Looking his opponent up and down, the only damage Naruto could make out was the scrapes and tears in his outfit, the bleeding lip, and the bruise on his face.

"_And he's still fighting fit," _Naruto huffed, watching as the young man turned towards him with his knight sword in hand. _"Who the hell is he?"_

Just as the knight was preparing to launch another attack, a shadow suddenly surrounded him, and in response, he leapt to the side just in time to avoid a huge metal club that descended from the trees adjacent to his position, which slammed into the ground where he stood seconds prior.

His retreat accentuated by the distance he covered in a single, effortless leap, the man landed lightly near the newly formed cliff line, and upon adjusting his direction, glared across at the newcomer.

When he did, he saw the colossal figure of a pale, beige creature with long hair come lumbering out of the bushes and woods from where it was hiding, with its redheaded passenger riding comfortably on its shoulders. Yanking the club out of the now enlarged crater, the lone doki and its owner, Tayuya, marched completely into view and only the battlefield. The beast shook the ground with each step as it began approaching the white knight.

"So this is the motherfucker responsible for destroying that village," Tayuya exclaimed, removing her flute from her mouth. Ceasing her playing, the titan she was riding on stopped in its tracks. A low grumble was emitted from it, and the kunoichi simply patted its head to calm him down. "Who the hell are you, you freak? What the hell are you doing here?"

Of course, her approach to asking questions lacked distinction, and didn't do much to intimidate her target.

The knight said nothing as he glared back at the monster and the woman, furrowing his brow in frustration at the new obstacles being laid out before him.

Not getting a word out of her target, Tayuya brought her flute up to her lips again, intent on finishing what she came here to do. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. You're going down, asshole!"

"Stop, Tayuya!" Naruto shouted, catching the girl by surprise. She looked over to her left to see where Naruto was sitting, perched in the trees, his hand held out to her. "This guy is my opponent! I'll deal with him on my own!"

"Huh?" the kunoichi furrowed her brow at him. "Look shithead; I know you have your own sense of honor and reputation to live up to, but be grateful that I'm here to help you out! What? Do you just want me to stand back and watch him beat your ass into the ground like he was going to do with that technique?"

"That's exactly what I want you to do, so let me deal with him!" Naruto snapped back, before focusing his attention on the silent fighter. "Besides, he's way too strong for you to handle. You'll just get yourself hurt if you fight him, since you're not cut out for close quarters at this point in time!"

Seeing reason behind his statements and after going over what she had witnessed already in her head, the redhead quickly came to a new conclusion. Although she wasn't one to back down from a fight, her partner was making it painfully clear that this was his battle, and his alone. Opting to instead observe and step in if needed, the kunoichi reluctantly stood down. She wasn't going to verbally fight it out with her companion out here; it wasn't the time or place.

"Do whatever the fuck you want," Tayuya shouted back, ordering her doki to stand down. Her summon complied, and quietly shimmied back in the shadows. "Don't blame me if you get killed."

Seeing the beast slink away into the bushes, and clear the field of its overbearing presence, the knight then refocused his attention on his previous opponent still sitting up high in the tree. Now aware the kunoichi wasn't going to participate in the battle, he could concentrate on the former task at hand, indicating that he was incredibly weary of his other, significantly powerful target.

When his eyes landed back on the masked boy, he saw the blonde reach behind him and pull out another throwing knife, with a tag tied to the end. Expecting another paper bomb, the armored warrior brought his sword around in a two-handed grip, green energy still wafting off of it, and in preparation, took a defensive stance.

Naruto saw this, and quickly changed tactics. With careful aim, he tossed the knife, which landed at the warrior's feet several meters in front of him, and detonated. The explosion racked the cliff side again, but the warrior wasn't that phased, and simply shielded himself from the blast and the debris.

Looking back up, the warrior attempted to look through the wall of dust and smoke in front of him, but was unable to see his two opponents standing at the tree line. However, just as he took up another comfortable defensive stance, he saw a blue light suddenly come shooting through the clouds in the area in front of him. The wall of smog parted at the admission of the strange phenomenon, in which the knight's eyes once again landed on his masked opponent, now descending towards him through the air, with a blue ball of twisting energy in his hand. The knight recognized the danger, and swiftly brought his sword around, preparing to retaliate.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he dove towards his opponent, and thrust his attack straight down at him.

"_**RASENGAN!"**_

"_**RISING THUNDER!"**_ the warrior roared, slashing upwards with his energy sheathed weapon.

Both fighters clashed, and their attacks erupted in a twister of pure energy and debris as their techniques grinded into one another. The knight held his position as his energy bombarded against his opponent's equally powerful attack, which warped and twisted around in the airspace around them. The clash began tearing away at the ground at their feet, the rocky surface slowly giving way to the colliding forces and the cutting winds generating from the center of the cataclysm. As the pair continued to press home with their most powerful attacks, they quickly came to the realization that neither of them could break through, which meant that the end result would be catastrophic.

This thought became real…

And the clash ended violently.

Their attempts to press through the other's attacks resulted in a colossal explosion. The friction between the two opposing energy sources created an unstable center of highly compressed, super-heated air. A chakra bubble wedged in between the techniques caused a violent reaction, and the attacks erupted into a towering column of fire, which became fueled by the oxygen rich atmosphere. The result was an earth-splitting explosion, which engulfed the clashing pair in a shower of wind, fire, ash and rock, and ripped apart the area of the cliff they were standing on. Tayuya, who was standing on the sidelines with her doki, was caught up in the resulting blast, and in her efforts to shield herself from the bellowing dust and debris, was unable to detect the ground giving way beneath her heavy doki's feet, before suddenly, both her and the section of cliff she was on, fell away.

Tayuya cried out when she felt gravity take her down and the clouds in the sky high above her began to shrink away, and become masked by the falling boulders and rubble surrounding her. Her doki disappeared when its connection with its master was lost, leaving her plummeting on her own. She flipped and spun through the air, painfully hitting some chunks of stone as she fell, unable to control her descent.

She immediately realized that it would all be over the moment she made landfall, and though still looking for a way out, slowly began embracing her fate. Closing her eyes, the redhead did her best to stay her fall, and wade out the seconds that flew by.

However, just as things were starting to look bleak and thoughts of survival began dwindling away; the kunoichi suddenly felt a strong pair of arms encase her. Her head and body became pressed-up against that of another.

Tayuya looked up and over her shoulder in shock, where she saw a still masked Naruto holding onto her tightly, his trench coat whipping in the wind, and shielding them. He hugged her to him, protecting her from the debris.

"I won't let go… I promise…"

The former Sound Nin was shocked at seeing him, and was even more astounded that he was able to find her amongst all the falling rocks. But then, it suddenly occurred to her…

She was traveling with the most unpredictable boy in all the shinobi nations.

Relieved, Tayuya nodded to him in response, and pressed up against him as they both continued to fall. The blonde boy however, seemingly took command of their descent, and despite the damage he had suffered in the resulting explosion of his and his opponent's attack, began maneuvering them around the cascading rubble, and kept them away from the sides of the cliff shooting passed them.

They spared half of thought to their ultimate fate as they fell; whether they would be hitting solid ground at the bottom in a few seconds and whether they would either be impaled or flattened on impact. It was a dark moment of contemplation, all the more to help pass the time they still had.

But then, out of the corner of his eye, amidst the wind, fog and debris, Naruto unexpectedly spotted the glint of a river far below, and felt the steam of condensation rising from it, hit his skin.

Relief swept over him instantly, and he quickly aimed for the middle of the canal, with his companion in hand.

"_Oh… this is still going to hurt though…"_

Shielding Tayuya and going in back first, the two plunged into the icy cold water, along with the avalanche of stone and earth. The masses of earth cascaded around them, seemingly burying them in a shower of stone.

The moment they hit the water, their whole world went black…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	9. The Convoy

_**Author's Note: **__For those of you who don't know, the story is currently following the Naruto Movie 2: Stone of Gelel arc. This following chapter briefly points out the slowly budding/improving relationship between Naruto and Tayuya, and how they're slowly and unknowingly growing attached to one another. Furthermore, it also covers the group's rescue, and shows where Naruto and Temujin stand as opponents._

_Also, to any who are still curious, the primary weapon Naruto uses, the bayonet, isn't some WWI, WWII or Vietnam War relic. It's the exact same type of blade used by Father Anderson from the Hellsing series. For better illustrative reference to what it looks like, you can look him up._

_Okay, enjoy the next chapter._

* * *

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The Convoy_

_**Some time later…**_

"_Death never felt so… inadequate…"_

Naruto's world slowly, but surely, returned to him in blinks and blurs, and within moments, the young blonde soon found himself staring up at a vinyl ceiling with wooden support beams, and an old oil lamp hanging high above, emitting a warm orange glow and filling the room in a gentle light. It was a pretty plain sight, despite what his earlier thoughts on what heaven was like, and instead that the afterlife provided simple comforts rather then the glamour those preachers on the street promised. Oh well. Apparently the next life wasn't as different as the previous one?

But then again, there was the alternative.

Blinking away the haziness, Naruto became aware of the sound of voices, and glanced over to his right. The clamor was caused by a crowd of what looked to be traveling nomads, whole families sitting outside around camp fires, and mingling in common folk manner. From one corner to the next, he could identify old people, children husbands and wives, and amongst their ranks were musicians, chefs, fortune tellers and alike. The atmosphere was lively, though he was quite distant from the commotions, and could only watch from afar.

However, the sight of the travelers and happy campers wasn't the only thing that caught the young man's eye.

Sitting right next to his futon, he saw his backpack sitting atop of his folded up ninja attire, the same ones he had been wearing. It was tipped over, with all of its contents, including other articles of clothing, weapons and scrolls, scattered across the carpeted floor.

Memory slowly returning to him, Naruto suddenly remembered he had put Luka in his bag, and she was nowhere to be seen. The boy reacted instantly and sat up sharply, only to earn a very sharp pain in his side and back.

"GAAaaarrggghhh…" the boy cried out, body twitching and arms stiffening as the bolts of pain went shooting through him. Expecting to feel deep open wounds and see huge-ass blotches of bruises and tell-tale signs of broken bones patterned all over his body from his crash-landing, he received quite a surprise when he found his arms and waist bandaged up.

He took a moment to analyze the gauze.

Conclusion.

It was pretty superb work.

Naruto then noticed that someone was lying right next to him and using his stomach as a pillow. Blinking in surprise, the blonde craned his head a bit to see who it was and wasn't too surprised when he saw Tayuya, alive and well with her head rested against him, and sleeping soundly. Her breathing was set at a steady pace and judging from her condition, she was fighting fit, despite her lack of consciousness.

He was relieved, even more so when he saw Luka curled up beside his companion, the young fox also fast asleep.

"Oh ho… I see that you're finally up," a raspy, slightly pitched voice spoke up, alerting Naruto to the presence of yet another individual in the room.

The blonde looked ahead to see the silhouette of a lone individual kneeling before a small number of items laid out behind a canvas sheet. Based on his movements, he was deeply engrossed in his activity, hard at work on something behind drawn curtains. Judging from the outline as well as the sound of the voice, the young Genin deduced that it was some old man who had been treating him, a fact which was revealed to be true moments later when the silhouette rose and brushed its way passed the curtain and into the room, the details of the figure becoming ninety-percent more prominent.

The old geezer with the bulbous nose, white hair, and adorned in unique peasant garments, beamed at the boy on his appearance.

"Try not to move around too much," the man piped, carefully and quietly moving around the sleeping girl and fox, and coming to kneel beside the blonde. "You were out of it for quite a while, my boy. It's rather miraculous that you are conscious right now. I didn't expect you to be up in at least two weeks."

Naruto blinked and watched as the geezer set the pot of herbal mixture he had been tending to down on the ground and turn towards him with his hands on his lap. That bright expression never left the man's face, yet that wasn't the troubling aspect.

"So who are you, gramps?"

The addressed individual chuckled at the manner of his question. "Me? Why, I'm the elder of this traveling caravan; the name is Kahiko." He emphasized his earlier reference to the procession by gesturing outside of the tent towards the people outside, with Naruto quickly catching onto the fact that he was referring to the entire populace surrounding him. That meant he wasn't in a village, but a moving settlement, whose caring embrace he had found himself unexpectedly yet gratefully thrust into.

His questions about where he was, was made perfectly clear; he could have been anywhere from several miles from where he had landed or nowhere near it at all.

"The villages of these lands refer to us as the nomadic tribe. We travel from place to place as the seasons dictate and have been doing so for centuries," Kahiko explained, gesturing for Naruto to turn slightly. "Right now, we're returning to our old village and rest stop, to sit through this coming winter."

The boy complied and allowed the old man to apply the ointment to his back and shoulder area. The tribe elder pulled out an applicator brush and immediately after dipping it into the cream, began to gently lather it over the gauze and onto his skin. It tickled and stung a bit when it reached open scars, but Naruto wasn't too affected by it at all. He simply sat and took it, all the while listening to what his savior and caregiver had to say.

However, curiosity continued to creep to the surface, even in this time of reflection.

"So… how long have I been out?"

"Oh… I'd say just shy of a full day," Kahiko replied happily with a shrug, removing the brush and dipping it through the cream again. "I must say, fortune was smiling upon you and your friends. If we hadn't been passing by the moment we did, the river would have washed the lot of you away."

"Thanks for that by the way, gramps," Naruto smiled over his shoulder at the elder. "I am indebted to you."

"Think nothing of it, my boy. After all, we humans are instinctively compelled to help others when they are in dire stress. It wouldn't be right to just leave them to an unwanted fate when there is the strong possibility that they can be saved," the old man exclaimed. He then nodded down to the girl still dozing peacefully on the Genin's lap, holding in a chuckle when he saw her nuzzle her companion and groan lightly in her sleep. "She was barely conscious when we got you three out; huddled up against you as if you were her only lifeline and, even _after_ we rescued you kids, she still refused to let you go. Even when I started working on your injuries, she was _very_ insistent on staying by your side throughout the procedure. Ah, to be young and in love…"

"Oh… she's not, I mean, well… we're not really… me and her," Naruto jabbered, making small, decisive points between himself and the girl on top of him. Kahiko laughed lightly and waved a hand.

"That's okay lad. If she's not, she's not," he replied, lowering his herbal tools. The smile he wore was warm and friendly, and seemed to make Naruto smile as well. "But I must say; you two make an _adorable_ couple…"

"I've been hearing that a lot, lately," Naruto sighed and shook his head with a grin. "What a strange universe…"

"The world works in mysterious ways, my boy," Kahiko stated, once again applying more cream to his back. "Sometimes, it takes things away from you that are the most precious to you, and at other times it brings down a heavy burden upon your shoulders. However, though people often mistake these events as simple actions compelled by their fate or through the mysterious influence of the universe; I believe it is the actions of the individual that shape the world around them and that it is the cause of how it reflects upon them in kind. Them and them alone." Kahiko smiled brightly at this. "I believe you must have made an incredibly _right_ choice that brought you here today, my boy, and kept you alive as a result."

"Heh… maybe it's also due to my body's incredible durability," Naruto grinned and held up a fist. "I can withstand cannon fire if I wanted to, old man."

"I'm sure you can," Kahiko replied, unexpectedly slapping the boy on the back. This act resulted in a tidal wave of pain to suddenly go surging throughout Naruto's body, causing him to cry out in sheer agony. In a highly animated and comical fashion, he slumped over, twitching, shaking, groveling and crying, while his caregiver grinned widely. "Let's just concentrate on fixing you up for now. You can withstand cannon fire on a later date."

"Yeah… sure… whatever…" Naruto groaned.

By this time, Luka had woken up from the shockingly loud commotion. Her ears perked and her head looked up sharply, eyes blinking wildly in surprise. Accompanying the furry animal, Tayuya also slowly regained consciousness.

Yawning and sighing upon her stirring from her pleasant dreams, the girl rubbed her eyes out and looked up from where she was resting, where she saw Naruto sitting up, looking quite distressed and uncomfortable in his position yet still very much alive. Her previous fears and worries about him soon washed away at the confirmation that he was still in this plain of reality of the living world. This realization caused the kunoichi to smile and push herself fully off of her 'pillow', sitting back comfortably and smirking at the blonde, who quickly registered to her awakening.

"Good to see you're still alive… Uzumaki…"

"Oh, so it's Uzumaki now? Have I been moved up the chalkboard?"

"No… you're still shithead to me," the redhead grinned, then thumped him in the arm. This earned a visible and audible wince from the boy, who was nearly thrown over at her affectionate gesture. Kahiko simply smiled at their antics and gave them some room to reacquaint themselves with each other after their painful and obviously wild ordeal from beforehand.

"Well… good to know you're safe and sound, Tay-chan," the jinchuriki replied with a grin, rubbing his aching arm. The kunoichi shrugged and stretched out.

"All thanks to you. Man… you really took a beating from that landing. I'm surprised you two survived…"

"Yeah, Luka and I were really lucky," Naruto exclaimed, reaching out and petting the fox as she crawled up to him. The mammal returned his caring gesture with a light bark, which earned smiles from the two shinobi. "It's hard to kill foxes after all."

"Apparently, it's also pretty hard to kill your other friend too," Kahiko piped, drawing the attentive gazes from the young teens. The old man rested the cream down on the floor away from him before pointing in between the pair towards the futon next to them. When the jinchuriki and kunoichi glanced in the direction their caregiver was gesturing in, they received quite a surprise when they saw another blonde haired teen with red piercing eyes looking over at them.

Naruto blinked when he stared at the boy lying draped in sheets for a moment or so, both of them exchanging curious and bewildered glares. However, all of that changed in an instant when the Genin spotted the armor and memory flashes of those same eyes from the warrior before, framed the mysterious, nameless teen perfectly. The boy also came to this realization too, recognizing Naruto's eyes to belong to the masked ninja he had been fighting.

"YOU!"

The jinchuriki acted instinctively, reaching back and blindly slipping his hand into Kahiko's medical pouch. His fingers expertly curling around a scalpel handle, as if he knew the weapon was there all along, Naruto leapt from his bed and lunged. At the same time, the warrior reached for his sword and sat up just in time to counter. In the blink of an eye, the weapons held by both fighters were pressed up against each other's throats, dangerously close to killing their intended targets.

Kahiko was bewildered by their actions, whereas Tayuya was sort of in the same boat with Naruto, but concerned for his safety more then anything else.

"W-What is going on?" Kahiko asked.

"Oh, you know, this was the bastard that tried to kill us earlier today and ended up throwing all three of us down a fucking chasm," Tayuya replied. The old man, ignoring her unnecessary use of the f-word, nodded his head in understanding.

"I see…"

Naruto and the warrior glared at one another while sweating bullets, their movements exerting too much effort due to their injuries. The pain they felt was excruciating, but will power and sense of survival alone compelled them to act on their instincts and the two strong fighters immediately found themselves unflinchingly glaring the other warrior down without any hints of fear or obedience to back down.

They started that fight back there and inside their baser instincts commanded them to finish it.

However, looking each other over, the pair considered their state of dress, physical conditions, and their opponents overall.

When they were _not_ battle ready, neither of them looked all that intimidating.

In fact they looked pretty much normal.

After a few moments of deliberation Naruto spoke.

"Truce?" the Genin asked almost suggestively.

The knight nodded a reply. "Truce."

At the exact same time, they moved their weapons away from each other. While the injured warrior slipped his sword back into its scabbard Naruto handed Kahiko back his scalpel. The old man took it with great care and was still weary of any conflict that could suddenly start up between the two teens during this white flag situation.

Naruto once again got comfortable and the young warrior adjacent to him, resumed his previous position by lying back down onto his bed, yet still kept an eye on the two shinobi right beside him, on the look out for treachery. The two wanderers also shared this sentiment with their other 'companion', but since neither one of them belonged to any known village imposing any authority or policies over them regarding enemy ninja, and for a fact they had no idea where this guy came from, sort of dampened the killing mood somewhat.

"You kids play nice now," Kahiko piped up, returning to his duties of cleaning up the place in the wake of Naruto's treatment. "When traveling together our differences are set aside… so there will be no fighting on this trip? Agreed?"

"Hmph… whatever," Tayuya murmured, whereas her companion's glare simply hardened on the teen also glaring daggers at them.

Though the climax had died down, the atmosphere was still incredibly tense.

* * *

_**Shortly following the incident…**_

"I'm surprised at the rate you're healing, my boy," Kahiko pointed, watching as Naruto undid the bandages around him.

One after the other, the blonde unraveled them from around him and rolled them back up for his caregivers to wash and use for another time. Despite his seemingly improved state, it was still astonishing to the old timer and those who were watching that the blonde was as spry as ever, as it had only been a couple of hours since he had regained consciousness. Usually, a person's muscles would have been seized up to an immovable point, but the youngster was shaking it off as if it were a usual thing. "You must have some rare powers to be able to recover at the rate you do."

"Yeah, I do. However, its genesis is a trade secret, gramps. Really, it's all just a bunch of gimmicks and stuff, you know," the boy replied casually, clipping the bandages together with the clasps provided. Afterwards, he picked them all up and handed them back over to the man across the small fire in between them. Kahiko took them with great care and after depositing them with his other materials, went on to continue making the stew sitting over the grate before him.

The concoction bubbled and hissed, and with every new ingredient he put in, a puff of smoke flew into the air. Naruto jumped at a particular juncture when the old man threw in a handful of seeds and a greenish, atomic-like mushroom cloud rose sharply out of the steaming pot. Kahiko then went on to stir, while keeping the conversation going at a comfortable pace.

"Your other friend also has a surprisingly fast recovery rate too," Kahiko pointed, gesturing over to the warrior being tended to by one of the other travelers. Naruto looked over, and saw a young woman tending to his opponent's wrappings.

She took extra care in removing the boy's bandages, since he had taken the most damage out of both of them. However, his body's response to tending to the various inflictions was shockingly rapid. "He's healing almost as quickly as you. It's really quite remarkable."

"No kidding," Naruto murmured, furrowing his brow over at the other blonde, who also glared back when he felt a pair of eyes on him. After a brief exchange of conflicting stares, the young Genin decided to look away and turned towards the other campfires lit in the middle of the temporary settlement.

Over by the band he saw Tayuya was spending her own free time playing her flute for the people. The orchestra of strings and woodwind players enjoyed her company and tuned their music in with hers, creating a peaceful melody to fall over the people. It then changed to a more upbeat melody and children began dancing around the campfire to the new sounds being played.

Naruto had to admit the kunoichi looked good in her light and smiled serenely at the sight.

"So, where are you and your friends headed to?" Kahiko asked, looking curiously up at his patient. "It certainly was pure luck that we found you when we did, however… your presence in this area begs the question."

"Oh, we were heading towards the _Land of Wind_. However we were unexpectedly side-tracked by that guy and his goons," Naruto replied, returning the subject towards the mysterious foreigner. Strangely, things always seemed to lead back to the guy and personally, it was annoying the jinchuriki. Nevertheless, the blonde quickly switched topics and looked back at the old man. "Actually, our plans changed half-way across the highlands when we bumped into a ferret. We figured he belonged to somebody up at the next village and went in that general direction to inquire about some lodgings."

"Oh, you mean Nerugui," Kahiko chuckled, letting the ingredient he had just dropped into the pot to simmer for a bit as he smiled up at his guest.

"Who?"

"That village you were referring to was one of our stops on our travels where we planned to stay for the winter. I believe I mentioned this already," the old geezer nodded affirmatively. At that point, the ferret that Tayuya had been carrying and the two of them were talking about, suddenly appeared on the old man's shoulder, and gently curled up and over. Kahiko beamed at the furry 'menace' and held up some crumbs for the little animal to munch on. "Poor old Nerugui got separated from us when we were traveling across the valleys towards the West. I figured he would have turned up somewhere down the road, but ended up in the company of you two."

"A bit of a troublemaker, huh?" Naruto smiled.

"Oh, he gets up to some mischief, but he is normally good. I'm actually surprised he took to you and your girlfriend over there so well. He's actually really shy most of the time," the elder stated, earning a raised eyebrow from the boy. "It's perplexing though… I wonder why he wandered off so suddenly."

"Yeah…" Naruto murmured back.

At that moment, the little animal hopped off of Kahiko's shoulder and scampered over to where the undressed knight sat and was being nursed. After a few moments of staring up at the youngster, the energetic ferret leapt up onto the boy's lap, and finding a comfortable spot, curled up and went to sleep. The sight bewildered the elder of the caravan, yet drew an amused grin from Naruto.

"So much for being shy…"

"Well… how do yah like that?" Kahiko sighed.

Turning back to his fire pit, the old man continued tending to his mixtures, though with a solemn look on his face. Naruto suspected his weathered down look to be from losing the attention of his most beloved friend, but didn't voice these opinions for fear of upsetting the gentleman who has been taking care of him all this time. However, to make up for the absence of one animal, Luka came up to Naruto and after cuddling up to his leg like a cat normally would, hopped up onto his lap and took a nap. The young ninja scratched her head affectionately, while smiling down at her at the same time.

"Boy, you sure are lazy, Luka," Naruto laughed.

"That is one well trained fox," Kahiko commented, finally giving the shinobi's smallest and most unnoticeable traveling companion some recognition. He pointed his mixing spoon in her direction. "Fox's aren't normally so comfortable around humans. How did you manage to make her so tame, my boy?"

"She sort of latched onto us at the beginning of our trip for some odd reason," Naruto replied with a grin as he petted his sleeping friend. "She's been traveling with us for about three months now and in that time has become quite a cohort."

"I see," Kahiko smiled. "It's always nice to have some extra company with you on long journeys, especially when it's just you and your musical friend over there." The elder nodded in the direction of Tayuya, who was still playing a jolly tune in the light of the fire. Comically enough, she was tapping her foot as she played and her audience clapped their hands to her enchanting beat. "She is certainly a pretty young lady. Where did you two meet?"

"Umm…" Naruto considered his response carefully. Not wanting to reveal anything that would upset the delicate balance between himself, his companion, and the happy travelers, he settled with a more simple, yet convincing story. "We… met at a village ramen eating contest a couple of months ago where we competed and have been traveling together ever since. She makes a great friend and rival; a person really worth fighting and working hard for, dattebayo."

"As long as you two are happy together then there shouldn't be any problems," Kahiko chuckled. "But despite your outlook on her my boy, I must admit, she's really attached to you even though she is _just_ a friend. She hasn't stopped looking in your direction or has left your shadow since we pulled you lot out of that river."

Blinking curiously, Naruto glanced over at Tayuya, to see her playing a gentle tune and at the same time, looking intently in his direction. However, upon seeing him look over at her, she hastily turned away and concentrated on playing. Because of the glow of the fire, he missed the telltale signs of a blush and the brief smile that tugged on her lips.

Taking it as just mere concern for his well-being, Naruto dispensed his thoughts on the matter and went on to talking with Kahiko. After all, he had a whole night to burn, not to mention a whole lot of questions he still wanted to ask…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	10. The Reunion

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The Reunion_

_**That next day…**_

The wandering villagers that Naruto and Tayuya were in the company of quickly got set for another long journey ahead of them, which was emphasized by their immediate clean up of their makeshift settlement. The moment the sun began peaking over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day, the nomadic tribe set to work rolling up their tents, sleeping bags, equipment, and mounted all of their worldly possessions aboard their carrier animals. With their small mobile village packed and packaged, the families and wanderers started North Westerly wards for a new location with their new found guests in tow. Of course, while Naruto was still regaining his strength from his battle, Tayuya was still exhausted from all the hectic events in the past week, and the knight that they had quarreled with the day before was still in pretty bad niche, they had no choice but to go along with nomads.

As a consequence of their wounds, the three of them were mounted up on the back of one of the rhinos the travelers had raised and began a long march across the countryside.

The sights to see were magnificent and awe inspiring, and the trip on the small tent atop the rhino's back was a joy. Tayuya took up position close to the reigns and began her day by marveling at the scenery trudging passed them, alongside her smaller companion Luka. The fox, though more interested in cozying up alongside the kunoichi spared some time to also gaze at the mountain regions and valleys that rolled by, barking at a couple of butterflies that fluttered in front of her nose and wagging her tail happily.

But for most of the time the convoy was in motion, she and Tayuya slept.

It showed just how exhausted they really were.

While Tayuya dozed atop of her sleeping bag, Naruto sat close by her, legs folded and assumed in a meditative position. He had remained that way for a majority of the morning, and would only exit his state of deep contemplation to help out with some of the workloads. But when he had free time, he would sit and concentrate on recovering, as well as practice some chakra control.

This was done so by placing a few bags of rice atop of his head and balancing them, at the same time, maintain a controlled state of chakra flow.

However, a few hours into the journey, while he was sitting quietly on his side, Naruto suddenly opened his eyes to glare across at their other company.

The blonde knight was also sharing the same carriage as the two shinobi and, though he wasn't in armor and was merely wearing the flexi armor weave, he still maintained a very powerful presence. He showed this by keeping his eyes locked on the shinobi in front of him and sitting in a relaxed state. Naruto considered his expression and physical appearance for a moment, before returning to a closed-eyed state of his own.

A few minutes later and Naruto felt like he would be left alone to his own devices for the duration of the traveling period, he suddenly detected a shadow cross his. In response, he looked up, where he saw his other company and opponent standing over him. The blonde blinked as he stared up at the taller teen, with the knight giving him a similar expression of thought.

Silence was held in the air for a few moments, before it was broken with a question.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked.

"You… what is your name?" the boy asked, furrowing his brow as they exchanged glares. This query caught the young Genin off guard a little, causing him to consider the teen more carefully for a moment as well as his sudden use of his voice.

Throughout most of the period in which any interaction had occurred between the knight and ninja, the teen had barely said anything beyond two words, and this occurred mostly when they were rooted in deep conflict. For him to speak during a time of peace it was a completely new experience to the spiky haired hero.

"I thought the cat had your tongue." The jinchuriki frowned. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. What's it to you?"

"Naruto… Uzumaki?" the boy repeated barely above a whisper, his thoughts dwindling on it for a few seconds.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?" Naruto also asked, quickly receiving a response from the other blonde when their eyes met again.

"My name is Temujin. Tell me, what was that power you were using?"

"Power?"

"Yes… the power you displayed during our battle."

"You mean my chakra?" Naruto blinked, his hands detaching from the sign they were laced into. His lack of concentration meant that the rice bags on his head slid off and landed around him. One in particular landed in his lap rather uncomfortably and the Genin spent a second to remove it from interfering, before refocusing on the teen standing over him. "Chakra is the energy we ninja use in fights. Why do you ask?"

"Chakra?" The boy now known as Temujin suddenly placed his right hand over his chest, supposedly where his heart was. His fingers curled around and he furrowed his brow in deep contemplation as he scanned the boy in front of him. _"It's true. I don't sense any Gelel from him. Chakra. How bizarre."_

The teen sighed and lowered his hand. In a strange twist, he unexpectedly walked round to Naruto's left, and leaning up against the side of the carriage, sat down on the floor a couple of meters away from the ninja. The jinchuriki stared at the knight when he sat down and glanced in his direction, the shinobi's expression reflecting his concern. Actually, Naruto became more then a bit disturbed at the sudden proximity between himself and his enemy.

"What is this chakra exactly? Is it generated from a form of substance placed within your body or does it occur naturally to you?" Temujin asked.

Naruto's hair bristled and he slid away a little.

"Whoa man… I don't know what you want from me, but you're starting to creep me out a little. Why with the sudden questions?" the blonde asked.

"I'm just curious as to your power and how you come to use it so naturally. Only a select few of my comrades know how to control such a power, but ours originates from a very particular energy source," the teen replied. "Now please, answer my question."

Naruto's brow furrowed and he frowned, before reluctantly answering his shockingly polite 'interrogator'.

"The concept of chakra is as natural as breathing to us ninja. But then… there are some people who have it and some people who don't. It's… a little bit complicated to explain." The jinchuriki rubbed the back of his head and looked away, trying to find an easy way to explain the concept. "Okay, it's like this. Chakra is created through the mixing of both the physical and spiritual energies inside one's body and through practice and vigorous exercise, a person can learn to control and manipulate the energy in their bodies to varying degrees. I've been practicing since I was five, so I've gotten pretty good at it…"

"I see… and this _chakra_ helps you to create that wind attack from earlier?" Temujin asked curiously, referring back to their battle on the cliffs.

"Yeah… depending on what you practice, you can use the chakra from inside your body to create an effect that is impossible, like breathing fire and walking on water. But… it also depends on what type of chakra you have. I have wind chakra, Tayuya-chan has earth, and I think Sasuke has fire…" Naruto gave the subject another few moments of thought, before glaring back at his other company. "In theory, it's all complicated. Even I can barely understand it…"

"It all sounds a bit like witchcraft," the knight murmured.

"It's not magic. To me, chakra is all just about physical power and other spiritual nonsense," Naruto replied, clearly voicing his opinion on his people's practices and teachings. This showed how much more of a practical person he was, as opposed to his friends' usual theoretical approaches to the concepts of manipulating energy. He then furrowed his brow at the knight, who just stared back at him with that same vacant expression. "So what's your deal?"

Temujin visibly narrowed his brow, before speaking up with little hesitation. "I'm here to build a utopia."

"U-topia?" Naruto frowned. "You mean that myth about a uniformed, civilized society where there are no wars and stuff?"

"Precisely," Temujin looked away and closed his eyes. "It is our dream to create a utopia; uniting the world under one banner and to end all conflicts across the lands. My goal is to turn this idea into reality and our purpose in this country is to gather all the resources and comrades we can to help realize this dream." The young knight then looked over at the boy once again, his red eyes flashing into view. "Your power is very interesting. You should come with me."

Naruto, suspicious of this young man's true motives, simply scowled a bit and looked away. Again, he considered the idea of deception, but also wondered whether the words his opponent was speaking were genuine. He weighed both concepts in his head for a moment, and everything that has occurred so far. After due consideration, he then looked back up at the teen, ready to assert his answer.

"Who is in charge of this _cause_of yours?"

"My Lord, Haido."

"I would like to meet with him… see him with my own eyes so that I can get a better picture of what you're hoping to accomplish," Naruto replied. Temujin nodded and looked away again, closing his eyes.

"If you wish to be enlightened, very well," the knight replied. "I will take you to him as soon as you and your friend are fit to travel."

Naruto and Temujin didn't say more then a word after that, and went back to whatever they were doing. While Temujin dozed off sitting up and Naruto continued his peaceful meditation, things seemed to quiet down. Tayuya also dozed peacefully with Luka beside her and although they were the only occupants of the carriage for most of the time they were then accompanied by Nerugui, who unexpectedly hopped up from Kahiko's mount to rejoin Temujin.

The ferret was strangely attached to the boy, which puzzled Naruto to no end.

* * *

_**Afternoon…**_

The nomads had reestablished a new settlement in an unknown area some ways out from where Naruto and his friends had been found. After unloading everything and setting up the tents, the travelling villagers went about their usual routines of preparing dinner for that afternoon, as well as preparing for the night itself. Naruto managed to pitch himself in with helping out, such as scavenging for wood, fishing and unpacking. They were meager tasks, but he found them rather enjoyable. Eventually he parted their company and headed off to find a piece of quiet space to rest.

Marching outside of the camp's perimeter towards the nearby stream, fully clothed and battle-ready (apparently), Naruto stopped beside the river. Kneeling down, he cupped some water and splashed it onto his face, sighing in relief from the sun hanging high above.

"Geez… the closer we get to the _Land of Wind_, the hotter it's gonna get," the blonde shook his head in annoyance. He knew full well what the environment inside and outside of Suna was like, hot barren, pretty much a wasteland. In his short time of service as a Genin of Konohagakure, he had been there once and only once on a mission and it was, in one word, _scorching_.

It made him think about how Gaara and his siblings coped with that environment day in and day out.

However, he wasn't able to contemplate his thoughts on the matter for long.

Naruto heard rustling from the bushes beside him and glanced over from where he knelt to see Tayuya come strolling through. The redhead smiled upon spotting her companion and marched over to him, hands on her hips.

"Cooling off?"

"Yup!" Naruto grinned, before returning to the stream to lather his hands. "There's a time and place for everything after all."

"Then… you wouldn't mind some company, would you?" Tayuya asked, being incredibly forward with her question when she stepped up to the boy. Naruto glanced at her, giving her a quick go over before shrugging in response.

"Sure…" Tayuya immediately reciprocated his actions, walking up to the side of the creek and kneeling down beside it to wash her face and hands.

While Naruto knelt staring at the stream, he thought about what had happened back on the carriage. His conversation with the armored warrior had raised some interesting answers as well as questions. Conversely, being a ninja, he couldn't help but still feel a little bit suspicious as to the young man's true motives. After all, it wasn't the first time he or any of his friends were doped into believing one story to be true and then that tale ended up to be a complete load of bull. Deception was a part of a ninja's career, but for some reason, that card kept on being played against ninja like him more then anything else.

He furrowed his brow in deep reflection, before facing Tayuya in an attempt to clarify the pile of information in his head.

"Do you think he was telling the truth?"

Tayuya stopped lathering her hands for a moment and looked up with an expression, though devoid of surprise, was still visible in her eyes.

"You knew I was listening in?"

"That carriage ride was registering at a 5.0 magnitude earthquake. How can anyone sleep?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "You unintentionally eavesdropped on our discussion. So based on what he's said so far, what's your perspective on his story?"

"I think he's just talking shit," Tayuya looked at him. "I mean, if his goal really was to bring peace to the world, then attacking us out of nowhere like that alongside his band of cronies wasn't a fucking good first impression to make." The red haired girl went back to rubbing her hands. "If you ask me, I think he's hiding stuff from us."

"Yeah," Naruto looked ahead of him again. "So… where do we go from here?"

"I say let him lead us on for a little bit longer and see what happens down the road," the kunoichi instructed. "Then, if something goes wrong, we kick the shit out of him."

"Right," Naruto frowned. "Honestly though… I think he's a really interesting guy."

"What makes you say that?"

"When that ferret went to cuddle up on his lap last night, I noticed something strange underneath his bandages around his chest. I think Kahiko saw it to," Naruto said, pointing at his own heart when he glanced at Tayuya. The girl nodded at his gesture, giving him inclination to continue. "Like the seal on my stomach, he had an interesting mark on his left pectoral. It wasn't a birth mark or anything… it was more like a royal crest or emblem… like the _Hidden Village_ symbols on the headbands…"

"No kidding?" Tayuya raised an eyebrow. She looked away and rubbed her chin in thought. "There's some weird shit circling that prick, no question. Although… I'm more or less interested in that strange wind looking chakra he uses in conjunction with his techniques. No matter how funny it looks, his shit's good… real good." The kunoichi sharply turned in her companion's direction with a very serious look on her face. Seeing him with his eyes still set on her, she immediately moved onto another topic of interest. "When he asked you about your own powers…_**your**_ chakra, he mentioned something about energy coming from a source of some kind. I couldn't tell from his expression, but from the tone in his voice I knew he was talking about himself. He said it in a way like his own powers stem from a foreign object… like a weapon."

"Could it be his sword?"

Tayuya shook her head.

"No… the sword can't be the source." Both of them scratched their heads in their own characteristics manners, trying to figure out the secret behind the white knight. "It may have something to do with that tattoo you mentioned before, because I also noticed that every now and then the guy would often place his hand over his heart. Maybe it's his way of communicating with the power inside of his body."

"Hey, I noticed that to," Naruto frowned. "How strange…"

"If we want to get to the bottom of this thing, we have to go to the source of it all," Tayuya stated, earning a nod of agreement from her blonde companion as he looked away.

"Lord Haido…"

The two of them decided to let the conversation lie for a while. Whatever questions they had would probably be answered in the foreseeable future.

They predicted their path would take them directly to the origin of the problems hiding in the shadows.

Still, they planned to enjoy this little quest every step of the way.

While Naruto was staring through the shadows of the forest laid out before him, he took a bit more interest in Tayuya's actions beside him. Shutting down his whirlwind of thoughts, he focused attention on his partner and watched as the young kunoichi with her hair hanging over her face, begin to wash out the dirt in her hair with her hands, moistening her locks with the essence of the stream at their feet. She would splash water on her head and ring her fingers through the smooth strands, taking the time to untangle any knots she found. She then threw her head back, sending a sparkling, light refracted spray through the air.

The sight was breathtaking, which personified the reaction Naruto had as he stared at her, wide-eyed.

Time seemed to slow down in those moments, as Tayuya's hair was caught on the wind and her delicate facial features were defined by the light of the sun.

Ringing her hair back, she prepared to tie it into a ponytail, but then felt a pair of eyes locked onto her. In response, she glanced over at the boy with a puzzled look on her face.

Gone on unnoticed by the two shinobi, the small fox Luka joined the youngsters at the creek side. Walking in between them the little mammal began drinking from the stream while being careful not to interrupt the delicate balance established between her guardians.

"What?" Tayuya asked, questioning Naruto's gawking stare.

"Oh… uhh… n-nothing!" the blonde sputtered, looking away quickly.

The kunoichi frowned at him. "Oh-ho. I know it's not nothing, shithead. You were staring at me with your jaw dropped and eyes glassy."

"Seriously, it was nothing. I was just… _thinking…"_

"Thinking?"

"Yeah. Anyway… I uhh… I gotta go…" Naruto cleared his throat, quickly beginning to vacate the scene. He was feeling a might bit uncomfortable and he didn't want that aspect to become known to his partner. So he hurriedly finished up and began rising to his feet.

However, with Luka standing in his shadow, he suddenly stumbled when his foot got caught up underneath the small animal and he tripped when he tried to avoid treading on her. While he was in mid rotation, he stumbled forward, with the fox leaping out the way just in time to avoid his whole weight as he keeled over. Unfortunately, Tayuya wasn't that light on her feet and so she cried out in shock when Naruto suddenly fell on top of her.

In just a few seconds both shinobi found themselves on top of one another, foreheads gently pressed up against the other and eyes staring into hazel and blue. Naruto and Tayuya froze the moment their proximity became known and their hearts literally skipped a beat. With the jinchuriki lying atop of the redhead and her laid out beneath him with her legs intertwined with his, it was an incredibly tender moment.

They blinked in shock with their cheeks suddenly turning bright red.

"N-Naruto…"

"Tayu-ya…"

Luka stood on the side and watched on, obviously perplexed by their unintended embrace. Her tail wagged happily behind her as she tilted her head at the sight in curiosity.

Of course, the pair's moment of closeness and bliss wasn't to last.

"Yoho… Kahiko said that you guys wanted something to eat, so I brought some beef and chicken kebabs along if you want some for lunch," a woman's voice suddenly spoke up.

The young mistress that had been treating Temujin earlier that day, as well as last night, walked into view. Pushing passed the bushes and ducking low hanging branches, the woman paused when she unexpectedly saw Naruto and Tayuya lying on the ground, one person on top of the other, in a very suggestive and intimate embrace.

The two youngsters looked up in time to see the raven haired woman with the purple beaver hat, blink down at them in noiseless shock. A warm glow seemed to eradiate around them all, both parties remaining silent and attempting to get their minds around the situation they found themselves thrust into. However, time of contemplation came to a quick end when the nomadic lady arrived at a very reasonable answer, one that she deduced on her own, before either of the youngsters could explain or defend themselves.

Blushing at the sight, she stepped back into the shrubs, a nervous grin on her face as she waved at them.

"You guys are busy, I-I'll… come back later…" she stammered.

The woman then legged it, leaving the silent couple to their… 'business'.

Blinking, Naruto and Tayuya looked back at each other and continued on from where they left off.

Wordless and emotionless staring.

Trying to lighten up the atmosphere, Naruto grinned down at the girl beneath him, giving the girl an upfront view of his dashing smile and shockingly 'cute' visage. It was a sight Tayuya could barely resist against.

The next thing Naruto felt though was a stinging in the right side of his face and the cold rush of the stream shooting through his entire body when he was knocked tumbling into the creek beside them. A spray of water later and the blonde Genin found himself lying on his back in the shallow water, staring in bewilderment up at his hotheaded companion, who managed to roll away in an almost evasive maneuver and leap to her feet to stand over him.

Her face as equally red as her hair by the time she was up, the kunoichi dusting her hands down and shortly afterwards walking away with a sashay in her hips and a nose in the air; at the same time leaving the confused and stunned Naruto wallowing in the cold river.

"T-Tayuya-chan…"

The girl in question stopped in her tracks.

Clenching her fists angrily, the kunoichi took in a deep breath and let it out in a frustrated manner.

"Get that close to me again shithead… and… and I'll k-kill you," the girl's stutter at the end went unnoticed, and she quickly ran for it, her face still glowing as equally red as before.

Naruto blinked in confusion as he watched the girl leave and disappear into the parked convoy of carriages and tents. As soon as she was out of sight, the drenched Genin glanced down at Luka. The little fox sat waiting patiently on the side of the creek, looking up at him curiously and tail wagging happily behind her.

The blonde furrowed his brow at her. "You happy now, Luka?"

He suddenly felt something odd inside of his shirt and looked down to see a lump gradually moving up the front of his jumper to the collar of his turtleneck. A second later, a fish leapt out of his top, slapping him in the chin with its tail before diving back into the creek, spraying more water onto the already drenched boy. The blonde gritted his teeth and went back to scowling the fox.

"Ugh… I hate you…"

The fox barked and smiled at him, tail wagging more vigorously.

Naruto simply rolled his eyes at the animal, knowing there was little he could do about his predicament.

He was a sucker for punishment, regardless of his luck or actions.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, elsewhere…**_

Tayuya found herself hiding behind a tent leaning up against a tree and staring hard at the ground beneath her feet. Panting, she placed her hand over her chest where her heart was and felt the pounding of her primary vessel against her ribs. It was confounding to her, as she had never felt anything like it nor experienced the emotions that were coming to the surface, along with this strange physical reaction.

Gulping, the girl shut her eyes tightly; her nerves still able to feel the prickling heat of red on her cheeks and the light sheen of sweat that covered her face.

"Am I… am I sick or something? Shit," the girl cursed, before laying the back of her head against the side of the trunk she was leaning on. She figured she was having a fever or an allergic reaction to some food. But she wasn't allergic to anything, nor was she feeling light-headed.

Opening her eyes, she gazed up into the canopy of the tree above her, where the light of the sun could be seen breaking through the rustling leaves.

"_Why… why am I reacting like this? I've never felt this way before… it's… it's… grragh! Is it because of that blonde, dumbass Naruto?" _Tayuya shook her head. _"No. Fuck no. He's just a boy, a ninja, a teammate, and nothing more. He's just a boy, a boy who saved my life, risked his own life and well-being to take care of me, and has stuck out for me through… through… well…EVERYTHING so far! I mean… I mean we're… we're just friends, right? Just… well… I could… I… uhh… GAAARRGGGHHH!"_

She added to her cyclone of thoughts with a frustrated growl as she picked herself up off of the tree. Spinning around in a stiff manner, she clenched her right fist tightly, brought it up, and without hesitation, slammed it into her previous support. A loud thud occurred as the solid fixture literally shook under the force of her blow, leaves being dislodged from their host and falling aimlessly to the grassy floor below.

Tayuya huffed angrily and removed her hand, revealing a clear imprint of it in the hard wood. Her knuckles may have been grazed, but they were fine overall. The only thing that was hurting was her former, cold self, which was slowly, but surely being replaced by this warm new character of herself rising to the surface, and her overwhelming reaction to Naruto's presence.

"_Dammit! Being with that cock is making me soft!"_ Tayuya shook her head, suddenly feeling her legs grow weak.

She staggered forward, before allowing her head to rest against the tree again. The kunoichi sighed while keeping her eyes closed for but a moment and then opening them when her mind worked its way back to the surface.

"_I can't blame this on him… he's such a nice guy. He's been nothing but good to me. I mean, he's loud at times and a bit of an idiot… but he's… he's so kind and strong… and… and cute…" _She gritted her teeth and placed her hand over her chest again.

Her heart seemed to tweek and her face lit up at the thought of Naruto.

His grinning face kept popping in and out of her mind, and it was driving her crazy in more ways then one.

"Damn you, Naruto-kun…"

* * *

_**Midnight…**_

Apparently, Temujin wasn't in a waiting mood at all and as soon as night fell, the young man was suited back up into his armor and was off.

Hopping out of the carriage he had been using as a place of sanctuary and recovery for the passed 24-hours, he corrected course and headed back to base. Making sure he avoided the tents where the traveling villagers were sleeping he made his way around on the outside and through the brush. During which time, the presence of a particular animal in his shadow went unnoticed.

Nerugui, who had recently rejoined Kahiko, clambered out of his owner's tent and after the fading scent of the boy he had grown fond of. Quietly, it scurried after the blonde teen as he marched across the valley towards the North. When the animal caught up with the knight, it quickly clambered up his leg and perched itself on his shoulder, surprising the armored figure.

Temujin stopped when he felt and spotted his passenger on his pauldron, and gave the red-eyed mammal a considerate stare.

"You should go back to your owners," the teen whispered, raising a finger and gently stroking the ferret under the chin. Despite his words, the little critter cuddled up closer and enjoyed the attention it was given, causing the blonde to smile slightly. "It's not safe to be traveling with me."

"Is that so?"

Temujin frowned and sharply looked to his right.

Hanging upside-down from a nearby tree, he saw Naruto dangling from an overhanging branch and glaring at him through his own mask. As both of them were wearing their characteristic headgear or face wear, it seemed like they were back to their old squabble. However, this was not to be a case of mistaken identity, old scores needing to be settled or senses of honor needing to be fulfilled, this was more of an uncomfortable, though temporary alliance. The spiky haired blonde revealed his intentions of goodwill when he leapt back down to ground-level and marched over to the white knight.

As soon as he was within a two meter distance, the older teen spoke up.

"So you decided to come?"

"Obviously," Naruto replied, hands comfortably slipped into the pockets of his trench coat. "You said you would take me to your Lord so that I could meet him, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well then, here I am," Naruto replied with a shrug, his voice almost monotone from the young knight's perspective. It was but a shadow of the boy's former tone that Temujin had come to understand before and picked up on in this little jab of sentences. The teen disregarded it simply as a guise for Naruto's occupation and gestured in the way that they were going.

The knight took the lead with Nerugui astride his shoulder, and Naruto slowly followed after him. However, before the blonde could move further then a few feet, he detected the footsteps of another individual behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Tayuya appear out of the dark.

The kunoichi glared at him as she approached, flute in hand and ready for a confrontation.

"Well… aren't I coming along, shithead?"

Naruto, since she couldn't see his face and only his eyes through the curves in his mask, simply eye-smiled in a creepy Kakashi like manner, as a clear and concise way of conveying his sincerity toward his teammate.

"I think this is only a one-person invite, Tayuya-chan. You'd better stay here with these people," the blonde replied, nodding in the direction of the temporary village. "I'll come back to pick you up after I'm done."

This earned a perplexed look from the kunoichi, who placed her hands on her hips and glared up at the masked shinobi in an irate manner.

"What? Why do I have to stay with these people while you get all the fun?"

Naruto opened his eyes again and gave the girl a more serious look from under his porcelain mask.

"Look, if there is something funny going on with this Temujin guy and there are more of his cronies running around, then those people may get caught in the middle of whatever this is. We won't be able to help them if things take a turn for the worst and we're away," Naruto lowered his head at her. "I need you to keep watch over them and Luka…"

Tayuya blinked when she heard his quickly composited reply. Though it lacked significant detail due to the fact they had no idea what Temujin's true intentions were, she could understand his concern. After all, if they received such a warm greeting from the armored enclave from before, what are the odds that the traveling villagers wouldn't receive the same treatment?

Taking in the information on hand, the kunoichi frowned stubbornly and nodded in response, earning a relieved smile from Naruto.

"Thanks…"

"Just get back as soon as you can, okay Naruto-kun," she exclaimed, her tone lightened and caring in contrast to her usual demeanor. A first, genuine smile spread across her lips. "I can't hold down the fort without yah…"

The blonde nodded back, and with a small wave, turned and hurried after Temujin.

It took only a few seconds after watching Naruto go that Tayuya realized her small blunder, and blushed brightly under the light of the moon. Turning her head away, she bit the side of her finger while watching her companion jog over the horizon, her cheeks and expression reflecting her emotions and overall feelings for her friend.

"_Damn him for making me like this…"_

* * *

_**Many miles way…**_

_**Early morning…**_

Naruto and Temujin soon found themselves walking through a thick cloud of fog. The mists completely obscured any and all land formations and any distinctive landmarks around them. This made it extremely difficult for Naruto to determine where he was or how far he was from anywhere. Nevertheless, he continued to follow Temujin wordlessly and obediently, choosing to withhold any questions until the next opportunity that came along.

Coming to a clearer density of fog, the pair became shadowed by what the young jinchuriki first perceived as the monolith. Looking up, both teens saw the colossal structure of a vessel, a towering building situated perfectly in the middle of the barren landscape. The sight had Naruto gawking from behind his mask, whereas the knight stared at it with an expression that conveyed his indifference. The ferret riding atop of Temujin's shoulder also stared, puzzled by the sight and ignorant of any danger it posed.

Frowning, Naruto took up a position on Temujin's right side and glanced over at him, hands still in his pockets.

"What's the deal with this thing? It's massive. A tower like this… Tayuya and I should have seen it the moment we entered the country, but didn't," the blonde stated, earning a sigh from the young warrior.

"This is my Lord's temple and a symbol of strength through great adversity. It will help unite the people under our banner and bring hope to the less fortunate," Temujin replied, before beginning a steady march towards the superstructure. "Come… I'll introduce you to my master…"

Temujin wasted no time. Leading Naruto under the shadow of the tower, he then brought him up a grand staircase and into the inner network of the building. Every step of the way, the young ninja became amazed at the architectural significance of the structure, from the hulking exterior to the lavish halls and the contemporary hallways. It was all like something out of a fairytale, a mythological age he had only heard of originating from the West. True, his own lands held great structures, but nowhere near as grand looking as the tower he was traversing.

Despite all this, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was now entering an enemy's stronghold.

While passing through one of the shiny halls, Naruto engaged Temujin in another conversation, in an attempt to coax more information out of him.

"So who exactly is this Lord Haido? Is he like your teacher or something?"

Temujin nodded, removing his helmet and slipping it under his arm.

"Yes. He's my Lord and a man of great strength. He taught me all the values of life and what one could accomplish down the noble path," the boy replied, keeping his head up as they walked along. "You'll see when you meet him."

While they walked, they passed by a hulking suit of armor, one of the same that Naruto and Tayuya battled before. The masked blonde stepped aside to allow it through, and gave it a very suspicious glare before glancing back at Temujin.

"What's the deal with those big guys walking around? They don't really talk much nor do anything other than fight," Naruto pointed. Despite his question, it didn't raise any visual response from Temujin other then a blink. He just strolled on as if it were an everyday thing.

"They're just soldiers who are dedicated to the cause and are highly disciplined followers of our Lord," Temujin replied, looking up a bit more. "They follow commands without question and serve for the betterment of the people we are trying to save."

"Are you like… friends with them or something?"

"These ones are just soldiers, but… all of my comrades are…" Temujin hesitated, for the first time Naruto had been chatting with him. The blonde caught onto his lapse in words and focus on the subject, and decidedly set it aside for later questioning.

The two eventually arrived at an elevator and after watching more hulking soldiers walk by, used it to access the upper levels when the capsule came down. The automated contraption amazed Naruto, as he looked left and right at the walls and levels passing them. He only had a few seconds to marvel at how it worked, until they arrived at the top.

As soon as the doors opened, the young ninja was greeted with a lavish, marble hallway decorated with royal colors, carved into every wall and corner he could see. It was a hall derivative of a Vatican chamber, another thing Naruto was not so accustomed to, but admired none the less.

Exiting the lift, both he and Temujin trekked across the floor towards what the young shinobi recognized as a throne atop of a marble platform, with a stretch of walkway leading up to it from the very front of the hall. The room was perfectly scaled, with each side perfectly mirroring the other. The further he entered the chamber, the more particular elements appeared to stand out.

As they made their way around, Naruto caught a glimpse of a figure with a white glove adorned on his right hand and a book, which was held firmly and open in his grip, seated on the high throne. It didn't take him long to figure out that the man in his sights was the leader in all this, as the throne reminded him of the Hokage seat and the huge mansion built back in the middle of Konohagakure. This was no different.

Stepping up onto the walkway, Naruto watched as Temujin approached the throne a couple of steps forward, before kneeling before the gentleman before him. Setting his helmet down, the boy bowed respectfully in the presence of his master.

"I have returned, my Lord."

"Ahh, Temujin. Good to have you back," the figure spoke, closing the book and placing it on the small alter beside him. With the small task accomplished, the man in question gracefully rose to his feet, his light brown, beige looking robes being covered by his light blue cape. Stepping out from under the shadows of his throne, he revealed to Naruto a face the boy just didn't expect.

An old yet kind looking man with dark orange hair and, what Naruto immediately deduced from his voice, a well-spoken and educated person with a monocle in his left eye and what appeared to be a bishop's hat adorned atop of his head. Looking the chap from top to bottom, the young shinobi was instantly reminded of the Western game of chess he had seen from time to time, in which this person was perfectly based off of on of the main pieces. It was uncanny.

This man, Temujin, and everybody else within this tower, were foreigners.

Not wanting to come off rude, the boy reached up and removed the mask from his face, giving him a better view of the Lord and softening his own image in the process. Blinking, the jinchuriki slipped his mask into his trench coat, so as to engage the leader of this cause in a more comfortable manner.

"You're the one, aren't you?" Haido exclaimed, glancing down at Naruto with a friendly smile, and acknowledging his presence. "Temujin let me know he was bringing you. He tells me you possess quite an interesting power."

"That's correct," the knight exclaimed, rising to his feet. His actions caught Naruto's attention. "Allow me to demonstrate…" Without a word of warning, the boy unsheathed his short blade from behind him and spun around, swinging his sword in the ninja's direction.

Visibly shocked, Naruto leapt away, barely avoiding the strike using his excellent reflexes and maneuverability. He back flipped in a hasty retreat, landing a safe distance away. Rising to his feet and dropping into a fighting stance, the Genin glared heatedly at the teen, the young knight turning to face him with his sword pointed in his direction.

"What is this?" Naruto growled.

"Stand and fight!" the other teen shouted, his blade flashing in the light. "Show me your power!"

"Temujin! Please, stop this unnecessary fighting," Haido spoke up, stepping down from his throne's platform, while directing his astounded exclamation towards his apprentice. The young knight in question turned towards his leader with a surprised look on his face, which slowly grew into one reflecting mild guilt at his actions.

"But… my Lord…"

"Resorting to violence is never the answer, my son," Haido stated, stepping down onto the walkway and onto their level.

Temujin, following his senses, bowed apologetically to his master and to his opponent before returning his sword to its sheath. Seeing the weapon slip safely back into its holder, Naruto was able to relax and stepped out from his stance, considering the scene more closely.

Okay, he was convinced so far. This Lord appalled violence.

This contributed to one of Naruto's theories as to whether to judge these people as friend or foe.

Perhaps these people were in this country on good intentions after all.

While Temujin reflected on his actions on the sidelines, Haido approached Naruto. During which period, shutters on the walls suddenly began to open, the mechanisms within the tower working their magic and providing natural lighting to this otherwise enclosed sanctuary. Windows to the world outside being opened before their eyes, everyone made their way to the forward area, with Naruto, hands in his pockets and obviously looking impressed, gazed out over the lands outside of the structure.

He smiled slightly at the sights laid out before him.

"Sweet view…" Naruto commented, seeing the mountain ranges stretching out over the horizon close to the ocean, the sun rising over the line in the distance with rivers and valleys carved perfectly into the surrounding lands. It was an amazing sight. _"At least I know where I am now. We must be in the Northern Countries much closer to the Land of Wind then I originally thought…."_

"Naruto," Haido spoke up, addressing the boy courteously and bringing the boy's attention back over to him. The ninja watched the bishop walk up to him and come to stand at his side to also gaze out over the lands. "We have travelled far and wide trying to create a utopia; a world where there are no longer any wars and where the weak are never oppressed. It is a world in which people will be able to grow in harmony, through love and compassion."

"You don't say," Naruto smiled as he looked up at the gentleman. "That's a big dream you have. How long have you been trying to accomplish it?"

"Oh, years now," Haido gazed down at the boy with a smile. "The land we have traveled here from is a far off continent, ravaged by conflict." This thought brought a sad look to the man's face and caused him to look up again as history from days long forgotten flashed in his eyes. "War is an ugly thing, the source of boundless sorrow, pain and hatred, bestowing not but misfortune on man. Temujin knows this all to well. He lost his homeland and family to strife." Haido closed his eyes, shaking his head in displeasure.

Naruto, feeling a little moved by this statement, turned towards his former opponent to see him with his own eyes closed and his hands at his sides. For the briefest of moments the young ninja saw some of the light that surrounded Temujin, which drove him to be the noble and strong warrior that he was, disappear. This was replaced by an image of pain Naruto was quite familiar with, as he had lost people close to him to, and that he could understand what Temujin was feeling.

"So that means you're all alone, huh?" Naruto asked, blinking at the young boy. Temujin looked up, vigor returning to his stature.

"No, I have Master Haido."

Naruto looked back up at the man he was previously speaking to. Seeing a solemn look cross the old man's face, he noted that they were still recovering from sadness and pain from years ago, which made him think all the more. "When he was a boy, Temujin was left to survive in the ruins of his shattered village. I made a decision when I found him that I wanted to protect the weak in any way I could; to create a world where fighting was no longer necessary. _**That**_ is our utopia. It is my only dream."

Haido looked back down at Naruto, giving him a look that showed his sincerity and determination all at once. "For the sake of that dream I've traveled the world, gathering believers. It has taken time for us to make it as far as we have, and it grieves me to admit that many noble people have been sacrificed along the way." He closed his eyes, reflecting on the dread he felt from those that had perished on their quest. But then, pushing passed these feelings, he smiled down at Naruto and turned to face him fully.

"Tell me Naruto, would you like to join us? We could use someone like you," the bishop exclaimed, raising his head towards the boy. "Together, we can make the world a better place."

The blonde smiled, raising one of his hands from his pockets to scratch the back of his head as he glanced out the window of the tower. A moment of deep debate later, the young shinobi turned back towards the nobleman and grinned lightheartedly.

"That's a tempting offer… but… I'm going to have to pass. After all, I'm going to be Hokage some day," he stated, slipping both hands back into his pockets and facing the man with his chest out and a smile on his face.

"Hokage?"

"Yeah, it's what we call the top ninja in our village," Naruto grinned while nodding. "It's a dream I've had for years."

"I see…"

Naruto chuckled and shrugged. "I'm striving to create a better world for my friends back home… not to mention I have a lot of promises to keep. I resolved a while back that I would walk on my own two feet and am traveling the surrounding lands to gain a better understanding of this world, and help it any way I can to bring peace and make people happy. Maybe some day I will visit your country, so that I can help the people over there find peace. It's a path my own master would have taken if he had the chance."

Haido smiled and nodded. "I see. This dream of yours is quite great. Are you sure you're up to it?"

"You bet," Naruto thumped himself in the chest, showing his own determination. "Tell you what though, I may not be able to come with you, but I'll do my best to keep everybody happy back home. How does that sound?"

Haido chuckled. "Well, I'm sure we'll both do the best we can."

Suddenly, there was a clatter and Temujin jumped slightly when he felt a familiar presence on his shoulder. Looking over, both Naruto and Haido saw the little ferret that has been accompanying the boy all the way through. Though the young ninja viewed the little animal as a small inconvenience, the Lord smiled at it and turned towards his apprentice.

"Goodness me. Who is your little friend here?"

"My apologies. I spent some time with a caravan and he took a bit of a shine to me," Temujin stated, petting his smaller companion on the head. Strangely enough though, Naruto saw that the animal was highly agitated at the moment and that it was glaring angrily at the bishop, hissing with its fur rising off of its back.

Naruto glanced at the old Lord from behind, seeing him step towards Temujin with a smile on his face. He didn't seem all that threatening on the outside, but…

"_Odd… Nerugui hasn't acted like this towards anyone before…"_

"A caravan you say? My, isn't that interesting…" The man stared at the ferret as it continued to growl at him, its red eyes glaring daggers and promising pain if approached by him any further. It seemed almost ready to attack Haido, which continued to strike a chord with Naruto.

However, the leader of the cause didn't seem to mind it, and just stared at the little critter curiously.

"A caravan…?"

"_**Master Haido, we have a problem,"**_ a girl's voice over the intercom suddenly spoke. Naruto, Temujin and Haido looked up towards the voice, all focus on the topic at hand being dropped.

"Tell me, what's wrong?"

"_**The fleet we sent to the Land of Wind was annihilated. All communication with our forces has been cut off."**_

Naruto immediately grew suspicious. By that term, a fleet and forces didn't genuinely sound like a good thing in most cases. However, the fact that it was struck down and that there was conflict brewing meant trouble, and he decided to focus on this situation instead, then the issue surrounding this group's leader.

"The _Land of Wind_? That's…" Naruto murmured.

"I'm on my way," Temujin stated, quickly running for his helmet and heading for the elevator. Unwilling to let the knight escape his sights, Naruto hurriedly followed after him. If there was trouble in the _Land of Wind_, then he felt he had to go and help, not to mention he needed to keep this one in check if he had any ulterior motives.

As both the ninja and the knight entered the elevator, Haido was left alone to his thoughts.

The subject of the ferret and the caravan troubled him greatly, as he remembered reading something about travelers and nomads in the book he left on his throne-side alter.

Furrowing his brow, he turned towards the speaker.

"We have no other choice, Fugai!"

"_**Yes my Lord…"**_

"There is somewhere I need you to go for me, my child…"

* * *

_**The Land of Wind…**_

_**Northern Coast…**_

"What the heck happened here?" Naruto asked in astonishment, looking around at the scene set up, or more like, scattered around him.

It took both him and Temujin just a couple of hours to get down to the coastline where the fleet was supposedly positioned. Naruto first expected a grand fleet of foreign, interesting ships of unique design that were moderately damaged from battle the moment they were in sight of the sea. However, now that they had arrived, not only were there no boats on the water or any vehicles of any kind in sight, but there were no boats at all.

Beached and what looked to be a part of the land and nothing more, the young Genin was presented with the twisted and horrifying sight of what was left of Haido's fleet.

Whether they were sent here on good intentions or not were unknown, but Naruto was certain that trouble had already come and gone. There was no way he could gain any answers on Haido's true intentions in this country from studying the wrecks, but the fact of the matter was there was little to be gained either way. The twisted, colossal vessels were shredded, with their pieces strewn across the sands; which looked as though they could total to two dreadnaught class battleships. What they looked like now though were just hulking, burnt and rusted frames of their formers selves that appeared to have been ripped apart by explosions. This explained the debris littering the beaches.

Naruto spent some time looking over the skeletons of the ships, before pursuing Temujin into one of the vessels through the gaping hole punched into its side.

Shortly afterwards, the young shinobi and the knight were exploring the network of corridors, now caverns, of the ship, looking for any signs of survivors and alike.

The further they went in, the more Naruto got a better picture of what could have happened.

From the gaping holes in the walls to the blackened surface of everything in sight, it looked as though a combination of fire and sand had ripped through the structure. The whole thing was literally torn apart from the inside out.

There was no way anyone could have survived.

Eventually, they arrived at a certain chamber, and while Temujin went in to explore and assess the damages, Naruto stood at the entrance in shock.

They both entered what looked to be the core of the ship, a huge power room littered with now useless and dead machinery. However, it wasn't the extent of the damages that shocked Naruto; it was the capsules and victims that were hung up all over the place.

The young Genin saw that a network of power cables and capsules had been positioned around a central core, almost like a tree, which had caved in on itself. Most of the capsules were pretty much destroyed and instead of normal coal and oil that would have normally provided power on the ship, the blonde saw that there were people in the capsules. No, not just people…children, teenagers, adolescents… boys and girls. There was no discrimination between the victims, all of them were dressed the same, and were positioned the same within the wreckages of their former roosts, but were all of different ages from 10 to 16 years.

It was a disturbing sight.

Climbing the power chamber and the destroyed reactor, Naruto stopped in his observations while Temujin walked on. The blonde then frowned and glared up at towards the white knight now leaving the scene.

"Hold up," Naruto called ahead, his shout causing the teen to stop dead in his tracks. "What is all this? What's with all these children?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

The knight didn't say a word, and only showed Naruto his back.

Agitated by the lack of communication between them, Naruto stepped forward in frustration.

Screw beating around the bush. He wanted real answers.

"What the hell are you really doing here? ANSWER ME!"

Before anything else could be said though, a silhouette suddenly jumped down from the rafters above, and a figure unexpectedly clamped onto Temujin front behind. Nerugui leapt off of Temujin's shoulder and ran for a hiding place, detecting the danger. The white knight looked over his shoulder in shock when he unexpectedly found his arms and legs bound by a powerful figure and apparently not a normal one considering he had about eight legs and had no life signs whatsoever.

"A puppet?" Naruto blinked in shock.

"_**Naruto? What the heck are you doing here?"**_ A familiar voice spoke up from the shadows surrounding the two individuals. The Genin in question of the person looked about a bit, removing his hands from his pockets to better prepare himself for what was to come as he searched for the source of the voice.

He eventually detected the presence of the person and looked up towards one of the fallen walkways to see another figure drop down from the rafters. It didn't take Naruto long to figure out who the person was from his garb and face paint.

"Kankuro?"

"You got it!"

Well, things are now getting more interesting…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	11. Battle of the Dreadnaught

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Battle of the Dreadnaught_

(**IMPORTANT: **_Okay, for the last freakin time to those who don't know, this arc is the second Naruto Movie the __**Legend of the Stone of Gelel**__. I mentioned this about three times earlier, but nobody bothers reading my authors notes. If not, then I advise you to do so from now on whenever one pops up. They're often directed at reviewers who have questions and criticisms. Not to mention this is just the beginning of the story, and I'm dragging it out as much as possible and withholding particular details because my earlier stories had the relationship develop too quickly, and I didn't like it. And no more comments on that scene where Naruto and Tayuya had to choose to go either North or South. Roads branch out in different directions; they're not straight lines, okay. If I was going north from Paris to Berlin and it seems like I'm heading towards Holland, the road is eventually going to arc, change directions, or branch out along a different route that will take you there. I wasn't going to waste time describing the entire layout and geography of the countries; I figured people would pick up on that. Thank you.)_

"Thought you could sneak up on us, huh? Well, I'd say your fleet learned the hard way when they underestimated the shinobi of the _Hidden Sand_," Kankuro grinned while glaring down at Temujin (_not an OC, Stone of Gelel arc people_) who was presently _tied up_. The Sand Sibling's puppet contributed to this, keeping the teen restrained.

Naruto ignored Temujin's predicament at the hands of Gaara's brother and turned his attention towards the puppeteer instead. He figured since he was here, he could get some answers out of an ally and not get cold shouldered every time words came out of his mouth.

"Tell me, what happened out here? What's with all the beached ships?"

Kankuro glanced at him, furrowing his brow in surprise.

"Geez, you didn't know about this? These guys invaded the _Land of Wind_ from out of nowhere. They sent an entire fleet of ships and a whole army of those armored drones into our villages on the coastline," Kankuro stated. "We managed to stop them before they could move further inland."

Naruto blinked in shock. His mind reworking over all the information he had on hand and what he could deduce from the site they were on now, the blonde gritted his teeth angrily and glared at the knight entangled in the puppet's arms. There was no way the young knight was escaping Crow's hold over him anytime soon, and this meant he could finally get a chance to answer some questions for him… _properly_.

"After all that talk of peace, Temujin, you're just full of shit!"

"Whoa, Naruto, easy…" Kankuro chuckled. "Never knew you for the swearing type."

"Fuck it if I pick up one or two things from Tayuya-chan, but this guy's been lying to my face the entire time!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the warrior in the middle of the room.

"Heh… whatever the case, they failed in their initial assault," Kankuro exclaimed, folding his arms and smirking down at the knight glaring daggers up at him from under the shadows of his helmet's visor. "We had quite a few casualties trying to stop their forces from penetrating the heart of the country. The villages they managed to invade were wiped out."

This news only fueled Naruto's anger and frustration. Had he known about the invasion, he might have come by earlier to help and prevent any unnecessary loss of life, but had instead been caught up in some other drama, which was now standing in the center of the room. Temujin and his supposed peacekeepers were responsible for this whole fiasco. All the damages caused to the country were because of _them_.

"Tell me Temujin, is this the truth?"

The knight kept his mouth shut for a bit. However, figuring his position as of interrogation wise and purpose here in this land was compromised thanks to the other shinobi's arrival, he had no choice but to cooperate. Nevertheless, he was still able to come up with some half-baked answers he figured would satisfy the people questioning him.

"They were noble sacrifices for a greater good…"

"Bullshit!" Naruto stepped forward. "What you say and do are two different things!"

"Oh uhh, sorry to butt in, but I'm gonna kill this guy now," Kankuro said, holding out his hands and preparing to lace the chakra strings round to suffocate his opponent. The arms of Crow tightened around the teen, who felt the strain of the increased pressure on his entire body. His armor though protected him from being completely crushed.

Before Kankuro could proceed to finish what he started, Naruto stepped up again.

"Leave him Kankuro! He's my opponent! Let him go!" the blonde shouted, surprising the puppeteer at the fury evident in his voice.

"Huh? What? You're saying you want me to release this creep!"

"Not out of mercy but out of _principle_. I still have a score to settle with the bastard! Besides…"

Before Naruto could finish however, a flash of bright blue light in the room caught the pair's attention. Looking back, the two shinobi saw an intense glow emanating from the warrior's chest armor. This phenomenon was quickly followed by, much to the shock of Kankuro, the knight breaking out of Crow's hold over him. With a swift jab to the puppet's midsection, the teen then back-kicked the wooden instrument binding him and sent it flying into a nearby wall. The puppet slammed into the damaged hull of the ship, leaving it slumped uselessly on the floor against the wall.

Temujin wasted no time quickly drawing his sword and pointing it directly down at Naruto, whom he figured would be the one to engage him first. Naruto simply glared back up at the teen with his hands clenched, while Kankuro backed up a bit in shock that the armored teen was effortlessly able to break out of Crow's hold.

Naruto smirked. "Like I was saying… you're no match for him Kankuro. You're just annoying him."

"Those who stand in the way of our efforts to bring peace to these lands will be eliminated," Temujin shouted, glancing over his shoulder up towards the puppet ninja behind him. "Do not try to oppose us…"

The two ninja squared off against the knight, who continued to look between the two, but focused mostly on Naruto, knowing full well what his capabilities were. The Sand Sibling gritted his teeth and prepared to set up Crow again for another attack. However, just as his threads were reconnecting, a clang of metal caught his attention and the puppeteer looked around in surprise, up towards the doorway that the two below were previously heading towards.

There, standing under the arch of the metal frame, stood a young woman dressed in pink armor similar to Temujin's design, only with a larger breast plating and pauldrons, and who was glaring down at the scene before her. She seemed to disregard the shinobi in the vicinity and simply focused on her companion standing off against them.

"Who the hell are you?" Kankuro growled, turning to confront the newcomer. The girl just ignored him.

"Temujin! You know you're not supposed to be here, you idiot!" the girl shouted.

"Mistress Ranke…?" Temujin murmured.

"Your primary duty is scouting!" the new threat, now identified as Ranke, continued.

Naruto and Kankuro immediately deduced from Temujin's reaction that she was his superior, and judging from the expression on his face, this woman was strong. All they had to do was look at her and see that she spelt trouble.

Unexpectedly, Ranke was joined by another figure waiting in the shadows. It was a second female knight, this time wearing green armor and had more slouch, as well as mature looks, to her appearance. This one stepped into view from behind her comrade, out of the shadows of the room beyond the doorway and smirked down at the trio with her arms folded.

"This guy is just acting as a lookout. There's another unit waiting nearby," the newcomer exclaimed.

"But… Mistress Kamira…" Temujin stammered, looking between the two shinobi to his left and right. Both the female knights grinned, seemingly enjoying the torment of his predicament.

"What's got you so worked up, kiddo?" Kamira asked.

"We're splitting before things turn ugly around here…"

Before any action could be taken, a loud whooshing sound was heard and suddenly, two huge blocks of highly compressed, solid blocks of sand shot out of opposite sides of the room and slammed into each other at high speed. The sand blocks crushed the two warriors that had just entered the scene where they stood. The force of the impact shook the entire structure of the ship and the earth surrounding the trio, astounding not only Temujin, but also Naruto, who quickly recognized the technique used.

The blonde grinned and glanced behind him, spotting Gaara standing by the entrance he had previously come through, fists slammed together in the execution of his technique that flattened the two new enemies. The jinchuriki was wearing a new garb from the one he had worn back in the Chunin Exams, consisting of a maroon robe with a new collar, a flexi plate armor chest chassis similar to what the Suna Chunin and Jonin shinobi wore, and two new straps crossing over his chest, holding up the gourd on his back. It not only made the One Tailed Beast's container look a little bit older, but gave him way better appeal from before.

"Love the new look, Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed, greeting the boy for the first time in ages.

Recognizing the blonde immediately, Gaara straightened himself up and glanced at the spiky haired shinobi from Konoha. Looking him up and down, the redhead nodded in his direction.

"Your look isn't too bad either, Naruto Uzumaki," the boy replied in his characteristic, husky voice.

Naruto exchanged a grin with Gaara's small smile, but then became distracted when the Suna jinchuriki spotted the two female knights leaping through the air towards the rafters above from the top of the sand blocks. Apparently, even with a surprise attack, the two girls had managed to slip out of harms way, just barely.

The sand user furrowed his brow in frustration and quickly gave chase, rushing passed Naruto and leaping up onto the blocks of his sand walls that were supposed to have crushed and killed his targets.

"Not so fast!"

"Great to see you rushed here for a fight, bro!" Kankuro exclaimed and also gave chase to the two female knights.

Ranke and Kamira landed up on the support beams overlooking the room and grinned respectively down at the two Suna Genin.

"Woo… that was a close one," Kamira exclaimed.

"Close, but no dice," Ranke grinned and glanced up at her companion. "Hey, let's have some fun with these kids."

"Sure, I'm up for a little dance," Kamira agreed willingly, before disappearing up through a hole in the ceiling to the next level. Ranke followed suit, leaping up into the darkness of the corridors above as a hand made of sand lunged at her. The initial attack missed, forcing Gaara to continue his pursuit of the girl in pink armor, while Kankuro pursued the other, Crow following after him.

This left Naruto and Temujin facing off, alone in the core room.

"So it's all come down to this?" the blonde glared up at the teen pointing the sword at him. "Using force and violence to secure peace? You're no different from anybody else…"

"I already told you, didn't I? If one hopes to achieve a higher goal, certain sacrifices must be made," Temujin stated, his blade unwavering from its position.

"What? Look around you… AREN'T THESE YOUR FRIENDS LYING HERE?" Naruto roared, pointing towards the bodies strewn all over the room. Temujin didn't even spare them a second glance, and simply shrugged off the boy's question as if it were nothing. He wasn't going to be swayed to see another person's point of view; a perspective he deemed to be leading him off of the 'noble' path set before him by his master.

"They _are_ my friends… and like me they are willing to give everything to bring about our dream of utopia," the white knight stated. Naruto snorted at him.

"Spare me, will yah. If they really are your friends you sure don't act like it!"

This struck a nerve in Temujin, his eye twitching at the statement. He furrowed his brow down at Naruto and brought his sword up ever higher, emphasizing that he had had enough talking, and wanted to dispose of his opponent quickly. The jinchuriki felt the exact same way, compelled by the need to knock some sense into the teen before he strayed down a completely different path.

Naruto had heard about good intentions going wrong, where people who wanted to bring peace in their own way ended up hurting people instead. This goal eventually transformed them into monsters. He wasn't going to let Temujin turn into one of those kinds of peacemakers.

Whether or not he was already walking down that path didn't matter.

He just wanted to kick his ass.

Naruto reached into his trench coat for his mask. However, just as he was pulling it out, he gave it a second thought and slipped it back in. A smirk spread across his face and he instead reached up and drew the bayonet from his shoulder holster. Twirling it in his grip the young ninja assumed a fighting stance, blade extended out to his side and legs shoulder width apart.

"I'd rather fight you for real this time…"

With a quick flick of his wrist with his free hand, four shuriken appeared between Naruto's fingers, and with a swift toss sent the arsenal flying at the white knight. The spinning stars hooked swiftly through the air in the dark, with Temujin blocking the barrage with lightning quick strikes from his short blade. However, as soon as he started blocking, Naruto was already sprinting straight at him, bayonet held back and ready to strike.

The armored teen backed down, gritting his teeth as he blocked the initial jab of his opponent's blade. With excellent balance created by his steady stance, he retreated slowly, blocking the next incoming strikes from the Genin one after the other, sparks flying between them. Eventually, after blocking several furious slashes made by his opponent Temujin struck back, his blade slamming against Naruto's, and both of them gripping and holding their positions as if trying to break the other's primary weapon.

They stood pushing against one another, single-handedly holding up their weapons and their entire body strength forced up against their opponent's, hoping to break through the other's guard. However, as hard as they tried they just couldn't get through, showing just how evenly matched they were.

Temujin, wanting to get the battle going, then went for a move he wouldn't expect from himself. It was a maneuver that even Naruto didn't expect from him.

The teen thrust his knee straight up into the blonde's defensive circle and into his stomach, the blow knocking the wind out of the Genin at its force and direction. This knee was then followed up by a spin from the knight the moment the ninja was thrown off and a charged side kick that was sent straight into the blonde's torso. Naruto went flying straight into one side of the room, a blast of dust and debris exploding into the air on impact, followed by the entire structure of the ceiling above giving way and collapsing on top of the boy.

The white knight watched as his opponent was buried under a pile of twisted, heavy iron and steel.

But then, just when he thought the spar was over, a pair of hands unexpectedly shot out of the ground directly beneath the young knight and grabbed his ankles, holding him down. Temujin looked at his feet in shock, which averted his attention long enough for a second Naruto to come flying out of the cloud of dust caused by the collapsing roof up ahead. The spiky haired Genin roared as he flew at his target and sent a left hook straight across the teen's face, putting all the power he had behind his fist.

The blow rocked the young warrior from head to toe, as he was unable to dodge or duck, effectively due to the hands holding his ankles and that his armor didn't make it easy to bend so swiftly.

However, Temujin expertly used the force put behind the blow to his face to make a rapid recovery, spinning back around and with a roar of his own, sent his own hook with his left hand straight up at Naruto, who blocked it behind a strong arm held next to his face. After which, the Genin forced the warrior's arm off of him and hooked an elbow across Temujin's face in the other direction on the follow-through, his attack connecting with incredible force. But just like before, Temujin swiftly recovered and came back around with another blow, this time with his sword's blade.

Naruto gritted his teeth and hastily leapt back to avoid the strike, sliding across the ground several meters out and skidding to a stop. He barely managed to avoid the attack, which became evident by the cut in his right cheek made by the tip of his opponent's weapon. A trickle of blood ran down to his chin.

Ignoring the injury, Naruto instead focused his best death glare up at his competitor.

The knight acted quickly and removed the obstruction around his legs, crouching hard and slamming his sword into the ground, effectively killing the unseen Shadow Clone. The hands around his ankles disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The original Naruto used this as his chance to attack again, sprinting up the angled hall and, bayonet drawn, swung it back and struck with a yell.

Temujin leapt to his feet and with a shout indicating the physical force he was exerting, struck out with his sword in a two handed grip, both blades clashing once again.

The ninja bit and held his position against the knight, grinning up at his foe through their newly staged grapple. Naruto had taken the full force of a kick, an entire ceiling's weight, had a cut in his cheek and a bleeding lip, while Temujin, still shaken from the combination of punches to his face, also sported a dented helmet, bruises, and a bleeding lip of his own. They ignored the injuries and wounds inflicted on them, and kept on their opponent.

"Come on! Is this the best you can do?"

"I'm just getting warmed up," Temujin growled back with a smirk.

Forcing Naruto off of him with a powered push, Temujin drew back and lunged, stabbing with his short blade. The blonde Genin reacted instantly by crouching low and leaping straight up into the air, evading the attack. The knight glanced over his shoulder through the airspace above him to see his opponent spin in mid-flight and throw a cluster of kunai down at him on the recovery.

The flying knives cut straight towards the other combatant who spun around and met the onslaught head on, knocking two of the knives out of the air with one strike. However, two made it passed his defense and hit the ground around him, detonating unexpectedly and erupting around their target in a intense cloud of burning fire and debris.

The blasts from the Exploding Tags rocked the whole room and engulfed Temujin in an enormous explosion. The entire place literally caved in on itself when the shockwave spread, more of the railings and support beams from above falling to the floor and atop of the knight.

Naruto landed safely on the other side of the room, just in time to watch the rest of the ceiling above give way and potentially create a new tomb for the ship's latest victim. Gaining the high ground, the blonde rose to his feet and glared through the cloud of smoke and ash, in an effort to find his opponent, who had taken the full brunt of his two paper bombs, as well as the roof.

He knew that a bit of fire and cutaways wouldn't be enough to stop the teen.

And it wasn't.

Just then, Temujin suddenly came rushing out from the cloud of smoke and charged Naruto down up the slanted floors, blade drawn back and flashing in the light. The spiky haired Genin responded quickly with a kunai throw, only for his knives to bounce off of the teen's armor as he ran on, arm held over his face and shoulder plate forward in defense. This frustrated Naruto, who brought his bayonet up again and prepared for reengagement.

He blocked the strike from Temujin, but the blow had so much force behind it, blocking it alone sent Naruto flying off of his feet and into the next room. He painfully rolled down the corridor before leaping back up to his feet, meeting the next onslaught of strikes from his opponent as the knight gave chase.

The jinchuriki backed down little by little at the attacks coming his way, sparks flying with every strike they traded and parried.

The duel in the extremely narrow corridor meant that both fighters were hampered by lack of space. The walls being made of iron and overhanging cables providing added obstructions didn't help that much either. But being the cunning fox that he was, Naruto didn't let that stop him.

Avoiding a lunge, Naruto ducked and spun a low spin kick at Temujin's legs, only for it to be stopped by the boy's firm stance and armored shin guards. The knight in question twirled his blade in his hand and changed its position, thrusting it down at his small opponent in an attempt to impale him. But the nimble ninja avoided and leapt through the gap between his opponent's legs, effectively avoiding the attack from above. Crouching, Naruto grinned at Temujin, who was now behind him with his back turned.

The armored teen tracked Naruto, and spun around while slashing down at his crouched opponent again.

Naruto back flipped through the air, avoiding the strike from above and quickly struck his legs out, slamming his feet against the walls on either side of the corridor. Through brute strength alone, the blonde held himself suspended a good several meters above the ground and his target.

Temujin struck out at the ninja, only for the strikes to be blocked by the boy's bayonet, much to his frustration.

A brief exchange of attacks later from different angles and Naruto made his move.

The spiky haired ninja cleverly blocked one of Temujin's strikes and knocked him downwards, using the boy's force put behind one of his attacks to propel him stumbling forward, before grabbing his wrist firmly.

With a quick repositioning of his hands, Naruto then leapt over the warrior and got behind him in a tight arm lock, with Temujin's sword arm held firmly over his shoulder. The armored warrior gritted his teeth, and put all of his strength behind him in an effort to break the hold, but thanks to the narrow space, couldn't do much to turn the grapple in his favor.

However, experienced as he was Temujin quickly came up with an ingenious way to pull himself out.

Using the narrow space to _his_ advantage instead, the young knight kicked his two feet against the wall to his right and slammed Naruto against the left wall, pinning him against it under his weight. The impact staggered the young shinobi and forced him to let go, with Temujin swiftly spinning around and slashing out with his short blade.

The nimble blonde had the sense of mind to duck at the last moment, a few strands of his hair being cut by the blade as it passed right over, before tackling the teen and slamming him into the other wall, preventing him from following through with another attack.

Naruto then thrust his head upwards, knocking Temujin in the lower jaw before head butting him in a combo. However, the Genin forgot the other boy was wearing a helmet, and inadvertently ended up knocking _himself_ senseless.

The loud clang resounded throughout most of the ship, and shortly thereafter, Naruto staggered away from his opponent with swirly eyes and a dazed look on his face.

"Uwaaahhh… pretty colors…"

Temujin, despite his defense against the primitive attack, actually had his own problems to deal with, as his helmet had unexpectedly slipped down over his face a little too much and blinded him. He struggled to push it back up, while his opponent stumbled around seeing six to seven different rays of light passing in front of his eyes.

By the time Naruto regained his bearings was the exact same time Temujin pulled his helmet back up so that he could see again. Locking back onto their targets they attacked each other again, lashing at one another with fierce and elaborate attacks in the narrow space around them, their blades flashing through the air and sparks flying with every clash. In the end they locked each other in another impossible grapple, with Temujin immediately taking the edge in it and started forcing the smaller boy back.

Pushing against his opponent's heavier weight, Naruto felt himself start to slide along the metal floor. He managed to stop them just before they entered another room, the entrance of which Naruto was pressed against led into what looked to be a cargo hold.

Eager to push the fight back into his favor, the jinchuriki quickly opted to change tactics.

Removing his right hand from his bayonet being used in the struggle, he held his palm out and, pumping chakra into it slammed it into the wall beside him.

"Jihatsu Ryuushi Nenshou!" (_Spontaneous Particle Combustion_) (I'm trying to use the original Japanese names for the attacks to see how it goes)

A second later, there was a loud hiss and the wall under Naruto's touch suddenly exploded in a violent cloud of smoke, steam and debris. The plating holding the structure together simply blasted outwards, the detonation engulfing both Naruto and Temujin, and inevitably started eating away at the floor and ceiling, causing the whole area to literally cave in. Both combatants yelled out in surprise as they felt the very foundations supporting their battle give way, and they started falling further into the bowels of the vessel.

* * *

_**Elsewhere on the ship…**_

Electricity cut cleanly through the air as Ranke engaged Gaara in a heated duel somewhere on the upper levels of the battleship. The Suna Genin glared emotionlessly at the armored woman as she began assaulting him from a distance with barrages of lightning, which coursed through the air and throughout the chamber they were fighting in, quite literally destroying everything in sight.

Ranke grinned when she saw mass clouds of sand hovering around her opponent, blocking every chain of electricity she opened up on him and batting it away with ease. The density of the sand insulated the electricity easily and didn't affect its user at all. After the stream of energy ended, Gaara's sand barrier solidified and mounted an arching defense around him as he continued to stare unaffected at the girl with his arms folded.

"What's the matter, don't you wanna play anymore?" the girl shouted, throwing her hands forward and unleashing another barrage of electricity again, which was for a second time blocked by a thicker wall of sand that formed a solid block right in front of her target.

Seeing her attack repelled again, she instead directed the currents up towards the ceiling above her opponent, which sliced into the support beams and brought the entire structure above down on top of her target. Gaara looked up in surprise at collapsing iron and steel, and quickly threw both his arms up, moving his sand defense up and around him in response.

He disappeared under the heavy avalanche of debris, the sight causing Ranke to laugh.

"This is so much fun!" the warrior laughed, rushing forward to attack the boy close-quarters this time, while performing an array of flips and cartwheels on her approach.

When the dust cleared, it revealed Gaara still standing where he was, and ultimately unaffected by the collapse of the ceiling. His sand barrier had solidified once more and encompassed him in an incomplete shell of earth. Much of the rubble used in the attack utilizing the surroundings and foundations had been caught, as well as knocked away by his shield.

Spotting his opponent restarting her attack, the red haired jinchuriki formed a hand seal and took aim, chakra coursing through his sand barrier.

"Rendan: Suna Shigure!" (_Successive Shots: Sand Drizzle_)

Spears of sand began to shoot out of the barricade encompassing him and flew straight at his fast-moving and agile target. The barrage spread out over a significant distance, making it seemingly impossible to avoid the onslaught of projectiles. However, as the sand bullets began impaling random objects and decimating the floor space in front of him, Ranke continued to evade them, easily slipping through the first wave, literally cart-wheeling between the narrow spaces left by the earth bullets.

Eventually, after dodging the better half of the barrage Ranke then took up the defensive. Landing firmly on the ground, she held her hand out and produced a spherical shield of electricity in front of her. The barrier began deflecting the spears of sand bombarding her; the projectiles unable to penetrate the circular fence of lightning.

Catching her breath, Ranke then grinned and sharply compressed her shield down tightly, before firing off a blast of lightning at her enemy. The blast expanded outwards and engulfed the flying spears, before eventually hitting Gaara's shield and bouncing off of the sand barriers. Despite the ineffectiveness as a barrier breaking attack, it still managed to knock the redhead's attack out of commission. The remaining projectiles that were now hovering in suspended animation and rendered useless by the electric field, crumbled to the ground.

Gaara just glared, undamaged and not at all surprised.

Ranke laughed and brought her right hand up, a current of electricity coursing up and down her arm.

"Come on! You'll have to try harder than that, kiddo! _Lightning Fissure_!" she roared, slamming her fist into the ground. A burst of electricity occurred and all of a sudden, a chain of lightning traveling through the metal under the floor's surface began ripping down the corridor towards her target.

The electricity reached Gaara's defense, passing right under it and exploding directly beneath the sand Genin. The redhead shielded himself from the flash with his arms and looked down at the ground in surprise. This was seconds before he realized that his eyes had left his opponent.

Looking up, he spotted the armored warrior suddenly drop down through his arcing wall of sand and land right in the heart of his defensive line. Backing up quickly, he brought his hand around and maneuvered a stream of sand to shield him from the girl's next attack. Electricity crackled around her right arm, which she swung back and thrust forward with full force.

"_Thunder Saber_!"

A blast of lightning erupted from the connecting point of the attack and the sand barrier the Suna Genin produced, the explosion causing chaotic damage to the room, and blasting the recipient through a wall and into another chamber. Gaara was thrown at great speed and distance from his previous position, across a gargantuan chasm and into a wall on the other side. He disappeared in a cloud of sand and dust as much of the pipes and wall gave way under his impact position.

Hopping in through the hole she had created, Ranke grinned as she admired her handiwork, hands on her hips and a smug look on her face. The cloud of sand and dust continued to hang over the area her opponent was probably now lying unconscious in, which caused her to beam in amusement.

"Heh… that was easy," she exclaimed.

Just then, there was an unexpected tremor that rocked the entire funnel of the ship her battle had taken her, the force of which nearly knocking her off balance. The armored female warrior looked to her left in surprise when she heard a loud racked coming from the walls. Seconds later, a large, fiery explosion from the outside ripped apart the entire shaft on the far side of the chamber, the high magnitude blast causing more damage to the fixtures in the circular room.

Just then, the unmistakable form of Temujin suddenly came flying out from the cloud of smoke and debris from the new hole punched into the dreadnaught, where he fell a good couple of stories before crash landing on his own two feet on one of the pipelines below. The white knight, bruised and a bit scorched from the paper bomb, glared up with his sword drawn, to see his opponent come flying down after him, bayonet drawn and looking pissed.

Naruto roared as he landed on the pipe as well, the force of which he dropped onto it denting the pipe and rocking it, nearly ripping it out of place. Without hindrance to his movements he charged his opponent down at incredible speed along the unstable bridge, thrusting his blade out at the knight, who countered in kind. The blonde however, dove down to the left, easily running passed his opponent's attack and right underneath him along the length of metal.

Appearing on the other side back up on top of the pipe, Naruto skidded to a halt and charged his opponent's blind spot, having gotten behind him to renew his assault. The teen however, was weary of his movements and quickly spun around to meet his new attack. Their blades clashed and they began exchanging blows along the narrow causeway.

Ranke gritted her teeth as she watched Temujin trade attacks with the boy, not only getting kicked and punched on occasion, but also inflicting some minor damage on his opponent in respect. It was quite a fierce spar.

"Dammit Temujin, you shouldn't be having so much trouble… huh?" The girl was distracted from her muttering when she heard the distinct sound of rushing wind and looked up just in time to see thick tendrils of sand suddenly shoot out of the cloud of dust.

The thick streams latched onto her legs and just as she was preparing to counter with another wave of electricity had her hands bound when two more tendrils shot up from the first streams. Gritting her teeth, she tried to get some electricity out of the insulators, but was unable to and was soon hanging with her arms up, glaring across at her opponent.

When the dust cleared it revealed a still standing Gaara, who had used the sand from his gourd to cushion his impact, effectively leaving him unscathed. The roots of sand behind him provided a perfect mount for a counterattack, and after securing his opponents arms and legs prepared to finish her off.

Glaring across at the armored female, he held his right hand out and quickly clenched it into a fist.

"Subaku Kyu!" (_Sand Binding Coffin_)

The sand rushed up the body of the knight on mass, rotating at a high velocity as it encased her in an earthly tomb. The girl let out a muffled cry as she was completely consumed and crushed beneath the high volume of sand, which applied an unfathomable amount of pressure on her.

Gaara glared at the corkscrew like mound he produced around the female warrior and glanced down to the level below to see Naruto still battling it out with his opponent across the pipeline. The pair was still going at each other without any show of restraint, Temujin backing down from his opponent's ferocious offensive. However, he returned with equal vigor when he found a pause in his strikes, forcing Naruto to put some distance between himself and his opponent's lashing blade.

Hearing the distinctive sounds of energy bursts, Gaara looked up again towards his opponent's sand coffin, to see the mound of earth suddenly rupture all over with electricity pouring out. Within seconds, the entire shell cracked and in a flash of light the compressed sand exploded outwards with the debris and dust that made up the technique flying all over the place. Once it cleared, it revealed the redhead's opponent still alive and well.

Although, Gaara's first thought was 'well'…

The female warrior looked like something out of a Picasso painting, her left side still retaining its normal shape, while her entire right side was bloated and bulging, like she'd gained a hundred pounds to that particular area in just a few seconds. Despite her now gruesome looking appearance, she was still grinning and laughing, lightning erupting all around her as her output of energy skyrocketed, shaping a defensive sphere around her. The cape she wore was gone, and her armor, though dented at this point, remained intact.

"I'm not through with you yet!"

"So you can increase your strength by altering the structure of your body?" Gaara queried, deducing that her increased size contributed to her sudden influx of chakra.

The girl responded by completing her transformation, her left side following suit with the rest of her body's metamorphosis. Bones and muscles cracked and snapped into place, as her limbs and torso expanded rapidly. Her face also squashed and stretched to mirror the other side, which had subsequently also changed from its feminine appearance, to a much more gruff and manly look. Her square jaw line and bleach in her skin coloration also added to the list of changes her body undertook.

"You got it!" she growled, clenching her fists and stretching out, the alterations to her body completing. With the added electricity coursing over her new form, Ranke now resembled a medieval beast of some kind, in this case an ogre. But from the patterns and shape of her body, she could almost be compared to Frankenstein's Monster. She grinned the young Sand Genin down, her eyes flashing an even sharper red. "Let's finish this!"

Without another word, the woman charged, an electric sphere shield crackling around her for a brief moment before dispelling upon her start off. She thundered down the pipeline towards her opponent, who immediately went onto the offensive.

The platform of sand Gaara was suspended came back to life and in response, began sending tendrils of sand shooting towards his target. However the moment the mass clouds of grains aimed to strike down the now hulk of a warrior, it was met with fierce resistance when the streams were repelled by the electric barrier set up in and around her. The transformed Ranke continued to rush at the boy standing square in her sights, unhampered by his usually effective attacks.

"Useless! That's not gonna work against my _Plasma Ball_!" she roared, bringing her right hand back and clenching it into a fist. All the while Gaara continued to hammer at her shield with rivers of sand, only for them to be effectively dispelled by her perfect defense. "TAKE THIS!"

Gaara gritted his teeth and braced himself, the woman hooking down at him with the force of a train. The blow collided with his defense and another catastrophic explosion occurred as her electric field reacted with his barrier. Simultaneous blasts of electricity and dust erupted around them, the pipe they were standing on finally giving way and sending both combatants plummeting down the funnel of the dreadnaught.

Their battle caused entire walls and pipes to rip apart, which transformed into a rain of rubble and debris. The avalanche of heavy material cascaded down at high speed, the downpour interrupting Naruto and Temujin's battle. The two young warriors also braced themselves against the inundation of iron which engulfed them and ripped apart their already damaged battle platform. Seconds later, their pipeline gave way and soon enough, both of them were falling with the rubble, along with Gaara and Ranke.

A short fall later and the four of them found themselves in the boiler room, crashing hard amongst the machinery and pipelines making up the internal structure of the new chamber. When the avalanche of rubble and debris ended seconds later, and the dust cleared up, both Ranke and Temujin found themselves standing in the dark of the room, looking around at the damages they had brought about.

The young knight looked around for his opponent whereas the still transformed Ranke, confident in her victory, marched forward, her footsteps shaking the ground as she approached the waterline. Lying on the pipe, she saw her sand user opponent lying sprawled out; an expression on his face indicating that he was either out of it or dead. Temujin also spotted the corpse and approached out of curiosity, coming to stand by his comrade's side.

"Is he…?"

"Dead and dusted… pathetic," the woman exclaimed, grinning widely. "That takes care of one of them."

However, just as she said that, Gaara's face suddenly cracked and split, and a piece fell away revealing a hollow shell underneath. Both Temujin and Ranke blinked in shock, seeing that the boy was nothing more than a vase… a Sand Clone.

"First time facing a shinobi?"

The two members of _Haido's Knights_ spun around, picking up on the voice coming from behind and looked up towards one of the walkways hanging high above them, with stairs leading up from their floor up to it. When they focused their attention on the causeways above they saw both Naruto and Gaara up on the platforms, with the Kyuubi Jinchuriki sitting on the railing of the walkway and his fellow Suna comrade standing behind him with his arms folded.

Both of them were glaring down at the pair, looking as though they had been having the time of their lives. However, while Gaara was unharmed in any way, Naruto had a bleeding lip and a bruised cheek, which would quickly be dealt with. A brief rub of the back of his hand over the scathed area and the damage was wiped clear.

Naruto grinned. "Is that the best you two can do?"

Ranke growled up at the two shinobi. "Bloody kids! I'll rip you to pieces!" She clenched her fist, electricity coursing over her body.

Responding to the woman's threat, Gaara prepared for his next attack.

A gust of wind whipped up around him and ruffled his clothes as he raised both his hands. Stretching out his fingers, he then slapped his palms together into a hand seal, concentrating hard as his chakra levels skyrocketed. Naruto watched on closely as to what was going to happen next and what technique his ally was going to use.

"Ryūsa Bakuryū!" Gaara bellowed, announcing his next technique.

A tremendous shockwave swept over the entire dreadnaught and seconds later, the walls surrounding Temujin and Ranke exploded inwards, oceans of sand beginning to flood the entire chamber. The young knight managed to leap up towards the rafters, evading the gargantuan wave as it swept in around them. However, due to his partner's size the transformed Ranke wasn't able to escape and was inevitably consumed by the tidal wave of sand that filled to the brim of the room and pretty much enveloped the entire ship.

The tsunami of sand blew walls open and dragged the entire contents of the vessel's skeleton outside, where the wave spewed out over the beach, along with bits and pieces of the wreckage. Naruto and Gaara manage to stay out of the attack's effective range and so once the shockwaves and levels had died down, and the beach had smoothed out, the two shinobi vacated the chamber and made it outside, where presumably their foes were.

Back out in the sun, both Genin looked around at their surroundings, with the Kyuubi jinchuriki awing at the damage and effectiveness of the technique. He smirked and glanced over at his friend.

"You really know how to clean up around here," the blonde commented. The redhead turned to him, expression emotionless. Though it sort of unnerved Naruto at how the Suna ninja was able to maintain such a face twenty-four seven, he still smiled at him regardless.

"It gets the job done," Gaara replied with a small smirk. This earned a grin from the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, who patted him on the shoulder.

"Always great to see you, Gaara."

Just then, the two shinobi detected a presence and leapt out of the way just in time to avoid a slash from behind by Temujin emerging from the wreckage of the ship. The knight, unscathed and unaffected by Gaara's _Bellowing Sand Tsunami_ technique, chose to engage the redhead instead of his previous opponent, identifying him as a great threat to his master's plans if he wasn't eliminated.

The Sand Genin complied with the teen's silent request for battle, and conjuring up a mass of sand at his feet began shielding himself from the boy's sword. Naruto stood back and watched Gaara ward off his new opponent, backing away little by little as Temujin drove home with strong attacks from his claymore, which was now glowing with that same green energy from before.

Seeing Gaara preoccupied, Naruto waved a hand.

"We'll switch for now!"

The spiky haired blonde then glared down the hill of sand he was standing on, feeling the earth shake at his feet as Gaara's previous opponent resurfaced. Electricity crackled around the woman as Ranke made her reappearance, showing everyone within sight that the sand wave had had just as much of an affect on her as it did Temujin. She grinned and laughed maniacally when the light of day reached her and she pointed up at Naruto, who simply stared at her with disinterest.

"You're mine this time, brat!" Ranke roared, lowering the electric field surrounding her and begin charging up the hillside, her footsteps shaking the ground with every step.

Naruto sighed and removed his hands from his pockets, grabbing the bayonet sheathed in his shoulder scabbard and yanking it out. As soon as he did, he pumped Wind Chakra into it, and in an instant it began emitting off of the blade, ultimately increasing the sharpness and length of the weapon. Since the bayonet was about a foot or so long, the wind chakra that Naruto managed to sheath it in ultimately increased its length to that of a normal katana; a testament to his training in chakra control over the passed few months.

"If there's one thing Tayuya told me," Naruto exclaimed, holding his energy sword out to the side in a one-handed grip, while dropping into a stance. "Is that _Lightning_ is weak against _Wind_."

"Like hell it is!" Ranke roared, clenching her fists in preparation for her next attack. Once she was within range the hulking warrior lunged down at the boy, intent on crushing him beneath her colossal fists.

Her shadow crossing over him, Naruto grinned and ducked low, charging forward to get close to his target. He weaved from left to right, throwing off his opponent's aim as her attack hooked down at him. Getting right underneath the giant, the blonde dove to his left and with a single strike, sliced straight through the girl's electric shield and across her torso. The maneuver managed to get him inside her effective range and blind spot, but as soon as he passed her on the follow-through, he tumbled down the steep slope of sand behind her.

It was only when Naruto reached the bottom did he stop, and he quickly leapt back to his feet and turned around to assess the damage.

As soon as he did, he saw the transformed girl staggering atop of the hill, gripping her right side tightly. Growling and crying out in agony the ogre spun around to face him as well, stumbling in the process, while glaring angrily down at the boy responsible for her new wound. A huge gash had been cut into her waistline. Though it had effectively missed significantly damaging any major arteries, it was still a deep cut. Ranke had not expected his flimsy weapon to have passed her shield, let alone slice into her so badly.

"YOU BRAT!" she roared, blood leaking out of her mouth. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Naruto frowned and brought his sword back up again, the wind chakra encasing it dissipating.

"You want to try that again?"

Before he could reengage the woman, another shadow on the sand became known to him, and he looked up just in time to see Temujin diving towards him from the sky, coming to the aid of his comrade. The spiky haired blonde blinked in shock, then set himself into a defensive stance before leaping back to avoid the teen as he crashed into the dunes. Emerging from the cloud of sand and dust created from his landing, Temujin pursued his previous target, sword a glow with wind energy.

Naruto's bayonet became encased in its own chakra and extended significantly for a second bout. He slammed his blade against Temujin's, their swords bouncing off of each other with a loud clang when they crossed, a flash of light blasting them back from each other.

Skidding to a stop, Naruto held his sword arm out to the right, his wind blade humming loudly. Temujin held his up in front of him in a single-handed grip as well with green energy wafting off of it like a flame, the sound of a flowing stream being heard all around. Both combatants grinned at each other, knowing that things were getting interesting.

"Ready to fight me seriously this time?" Naruto asked.

"Only if I have to," Temujin replied.

Meanwhile, as the two rushed at each other and clashed once again, Gaara reengaged his wounded opponent. The transformed Ranke staggered back still clutching her side, which was slowly healing thanks to the power she was bestowed on by Haido. Gritting her teeth, she watched as the Sand Genin readied to attack her again, with the knowledge that she was in no position to mount an effective attack, even with her techniques. The best she could do was stall.

"If you think you can beat me, you're sadly mistaken," Ranke grinned. "You're no match for me or my electricity!"

Shaking off the infliction in her side, the woman went back onto the offensive. Without another word, she charged the boy down, rushing down the slope of one of the dunes she was one before beginning to charge up to his position closer to the skeleton of the dreadnaught. All the while, the Suna Ninja continued to hold his position, bringing his hands up to form a hand seal.

"That's if you still have electricity," Gaara replied, finally spotting a weakness in her techniques. He gripped the grove in his right elbow and thrust his right fist upwards, concentrating his chakra into points inside of his gourd. "Suna Raishin!"

Suddenly, a stream of sand shot out of his gourd and fired a barrage of sand spears into the air. The sight caught Ranke's attention and she stopped dead in her tracks, looking up as the spears began raining down on top of her.

However, instead of impaling her like his usual attacks would attempt, the rods of sand landed around her, forming a ring with the tips projected towards her. Seconds later, spikes formed on the tips of the spears, and their polarity was forcibly changed in conjunction with the ground and her electricity. A moment later after the attack was initiated, the rods in the ground started drawing in the energy from the woman's body, the lightning leaving her in gushing streams. Ranke wailed out in agony as she felt her own power sucked out of her body, almost infinite amounts going into the ground.

Her cries didn't go unheard, with both Temujin and her other partner inside of the ship pausing in their battles in response to her cries.

Several seconds later, the currents of lightning leaving the woman stopped, and Ranke was left panting for breath.

Gaara took his chance, slamming his hands into the ground and channeling all of the chakra he had into the surrounding dunes.

"Sabaku Taisou!" the Genin shouted, his energy skyrocketing at the initiation of his final attack.

The sands and dunes surrounding the entire battlefield literally lifted up into the air and formed a vortex over his target's head. Ranke looked up in astonishment at the amount of landscape used to fuel the technique, her shock quickly changing to fear when she noticed that it started circling above her at a higher velocity with greater overall mass added to the thickening clouds. Within moments, the necessary amount of chakra and sand put behind it was completed, and Gaara executed his technique without hesitation, sending thousands of tonnes of sand dropping towards his opponent.

Ranke cried out her last as she was engulfed in an ocean of sand and literally liquefied into the ground as the currents and clouds crushed her into the ground.

It was a swift and painless death.

Standing on the deck of the beached dreadnaught overlooking the beach, the third of _Haido's Knights_ Kamira gritted her teeth in frustration at seeing her partner defeated so swiftly.

She expressed deep shock at the defeat of Ranke, having had great confidence in her abilities and flawless record of never being defeated in combat. However, these shinobi were a far greater challenge than either of them had anticipated. This was not good.

"Damn. I don't believe this!" she muttered, gazing out at the battlefield. _"I must inform Lord Haido of this development. We need to hasten the search now before more of these people are involved…"_

"Found you!" Kankuro voice suddenly echoed out from the ship's chambers behind the knight, with Kamira glancing over her shoulder to see a barrage of kunai flying at her. The knight leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the throwing knives, which flew right by her previous position as she took up a new station a little ways down the deck.

The puppeteer responsible stepped out from the shadows, grinning at the woman while holding up another set of kunai between his fingers. The female warrior smirked back at him from where she crouched, knowing full well that she had an advantage out in the open.

"I'm not letting you go that easily," Kankuro exclaimed.

"You're overconfident if you think you can beat me, sweetie," Kamira grinned. "Courage can only take you so far."

The boy huffed and tossed the kunai he had at her, only for the woman to leap into the air to avoid them again as they impaled the deck. Just when the Suna Nin thought she would fall to her death thanks to her maneuver, Kankuro's look of confidence changed to one of shock when he witnessed her entire body suddenly morph, squash and stretch. Kamira's arms extended to great length and the pigmentation of her skin lightened. In a flash, her arms shot out to form into bat like wings, and her body and appearance resembled that of a marsupial.

She had taken the form that could only be perceived as the form of a bat-person or vampire, a state that surprised the Suna Genin greatly.

"What the hell?"

Kamira cackled and opened her mouth, a fine pink cloud of fog suddenly rocketing from her throat and engulfing the whole upper deck of the dreadnaught Kankuro was on. The boy growled as he found his world blinded by the smokescreen, and attempted to shoo the fog away. But to no avail. Instead, he opted to give pursuit as best as he could, aware that his opponent was making a run for it.

"Better luck next time, sweet heart!" the woman's voice echoed on the wind with her laughter as she took flight, soaring over the battlefield while leaving a trail of pink gas behind her.

The puppeteer cursed his luck.

"Damn you! We're not through yet you bitch!"

As Kamira swooped down towards the beach where Ranke had fallen, Naruto and Temujin continued to fight it out.

The knight lunged at his nimble opponent with his energy enflamed sword, attempting to strike the boy down. But the spiky haired hero wasn't making it easy for him, and responded with a relentless counterattack, which forced his opponent back and to block with his weapon. Their wind attacks collided and exploded again, throwing both combatants away from one another. While skidding across the ground to a stop, Naruto threw a barrage of kunai in Temujin's direction, which the teen stopped with a few swift slashes of his sword, before both of them reassumed fighting stances and glared daggers at one another.

Just then, a cloud of pink smoke surrounded the pair and Naruto was left fighting blind.

"Dammit! What now?"

"Temujin! We're withdrawing!" Kamira shouted, swooping in under the cover of her smokescreen. The swordsman heard her, and following the direction of her voice, Temujin leapt into the air and made a grab for her leg. Latching onto his comrade, the pair fled the battlefield, knowing that fighting three powerful opponents at the same time was an impossible bout particularly since their muscle Ranke was out for the count.

Waiting for the smoke to clear a bit, Naruto caught a glimpse of Temujin and his 'escape craft'. Unwilling to let them escape, the Genin flicked his wrist and allowed a light piece of iron to fall into his hand. With a strong, well-aimed throw the Genin threw what looked to be a weight in the direction of the two fleeing combatants in the sky above. But as it turns out, it was his counterweight attached to nano wire, which managed to hook around his opponent's ankle and hold firm.

Temujin looked down in surprise when he felt the tug of another person's weight against his, and after glancing down the length of wire tied around his leg, saw Naruto latched onto him at the end, abseiling through the air. The young shinobi persistently clambered up the length of cable, intent on finishing the fight they started. However, before he could even make it half way, the white knight took immediate action.

Drawing his sword, Temujin slashed down at the wire at his foot and cut the boy loose.

Naruto fell a good twenty stories before crashing back onto the beach, rolling to a stop down one of the dunes and leaping back up into a crouched stance. The blonde glared up in frustration towards the clouds as the pair escaped, unable to do anything about it.

After watching them vanish over the horizon, the jinchuriki rose to his feet and dusted his body down. Retracting the cable back into his gauntlet and sheathing his bayonet back into its sheath on his shoulder, Naruto turned heel and headed back to the beached dreadnaught.

The prolonged battle with Temujin had cost him a lot of chakra and he was certain that if the fight had gone on any longer, he would have ended up with a few broken bones or even worse. The guy was tough, no question.

Returning to where Gaara flattened Ranke, he reunited with the two Suna Genin, who were inspecting the damages of the area and discussing the next course of action to take. When their ally arrived back on the scene, the two siblings approached him with the intention of interrogating him for answers on the foreigners. However, they found Naruto instead searching the crater that was formed by Gaara's Giant Sand Burial Technique, digging through bits and pieces of what he guessed was one of their enemies.

Kneeling in the heart of the crater, Naruto brushed away a small mound of sand and continued to do so till he was digging small handfuls away of grains away. Gaara and Kankuro became perplexed by his actions, but not getting caught up in the 'excitement' of his task, went on with whatever questions they had on hand.

"Tell us Naruto; in what way are you involved in all this?" Kankuro asked, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head down at the blonde. "You're obviously not here on business from Konohagakure and you're certainly not a part of _that_ lot. I know you wouldn't stoop so low as to join forces with foreigners invading our country."

"Pft, you think I would waste my time with those liars?" Naruto scoffed, while continuing to dig. He picked up a piece of what he recognized as the former female knights' armor and dug even deeper.

"So why are you here?" Gaara asked curiously in his usual, calm voice, arms folded firmly over his chest.

"The last we heard was that you left your village on some grand quest right after your fight with the Uchiha kid," Kankuro said, raising an eyebrow at the blonde who just went on with excavating the scene while every once in a while, exhuming more remains of the fallen warrior. "Your Hokage is worried sick about you, not to mention your friends, Gaara, myself and my sister included. Heh… we even thought that you went off and joined Orochimaru's horde."

Naruto paused for a second and looked up at the older boy, a baffled look written on his face. Kankuro backed up a bit at his statement, wondering whether it was the appropriate thing to insinuate right now.

"You're kidding me right? I'd rather _Rasengan_ myself in the crotch before I even begin to think about going to that psychopath's homeland. Sasuke decided to go because he already lost his genitals years ago," the blonde replied, before returning to digging. The comment earned a chuckle from Kankuro and the continued, disinterested expression from Gaara.

The red haired jinchuriki stared down at Naruto as he continued digging and digging; puzzled by his efforts to find whatever it was he was looking for.

However, above all this, there were some particular things on his mind that he wanted to get out. There was, after all, the one question that had been plaguing the boy's mind ever since he learned that his fellow jinchuriki had left Konohagakure, which had nearly compelled him to actually leave his own village and go in search for the boy to ask him face-to-face.

But now that he was here, it seemed like the right time to ask.

"Why did you abandon your village, Naruto?" Gaara queried, as if it were an almost normal question to give.

His words stopped the blond dead and as a result, Naruto stared at the ground in shock for the next few seconds. He wasn't sure if he heard right, but he could of sworn he heard Suna's jinchuriki questioning his allegiance as well as his reasons for leaving. The boy blinked several times, his mind working on overdrive to bring him back round.

Slowly recovering from the surprise, the whisker-marked boy looked up at Gaara to see him staring at him with his arms still crossed and expression unchanged, while the older Sand Sibling stood on the sidelines, a little bit weary about where this new topic was going.

"Why would I ever abandon Konoha, Gaara?" Naruto asked with his voice low and lacking emotion. "Do you think I would? After living in it for almost my entire life? After fighting for it during the invasion? After working so hard to try and bring a friend back home?"

Gaara remained silent, blinking at the responses Naruto was giving him.

"Konoha is my home… it's where the only friends and family I have live, and if anything should happen to that village you can bet that I will leave from wherever I am and run all the way back there to fight for them," Naruto said, pointing at the boy before thumbing himself in the chest. "My home is where I want it to be; it's where I was, where I am, and where my friends are. I have not abandoned them."

"Then why did you leave?"

"Because there are some questions I needed answering outside of my village; answers that I couldn't find within its walls," Naruto replied and went back to digging. The boy then smiled when his mind registered to an important detail, and he spared the Suna Genin in front of him another glance. "I think you were able to find an answer to, Gaara… outside of _your_ home."

The redhead raised an eyebrow as Naruto continued to speak.

"After that day where we fought outside of Konoha, I felt that you changed… that you became a whole new person," Naruto grinned as he brushed away some more sand. "You found an answer that your village was never able to give you; a choice, a new purpose in life. It's the reason why you are standing here today, defending your home and your family alongside your brother."

The youngest sibling looked down a little, feeling himself moved by the boy's words. He then looked up at Kankuro who seemed a little bit worried, but was also a bit shaken up by what Naruto had to say as well. He had reason to be referring to his thoughts as well as to those who were present, as big changes had befallen all of them since the Chunin Exams. These changes had all been for the best, and it was all because of the young Genin kneeling before them.

"Do you think I'm doing the same thing you guys did?" Naruto asked again, grinning and turning back to his task.

"…" Much to Kankuro's shock, Gaara smiled. Not a half smile or a small smile. It was a genuine smile. Naruto seemed to pick this up from where he knelt but couldn't see, and grinned even wider.

"I thought so…"

At that moment, he unearthed the very piece of evidence he was looking for. About a couple of feet under the sand, Naruto pulled out what looked to be a gem that had been unearthed by Gaara's attack. However, on closer inspection the blonde knew that it wasn't an ordinary stone.

The small, perfectly cut rock about the size of an egg and colored in an unusual aqua quality, sat resting comfortably in his palm. Gaara and Kankuro became curious about the crystal their fellow shinobi had unearthed and stepped in for a closer look.

Naruto brushed away the sand covering it and rose to his feet, turning towards the siblings to show them his find.

"I knew there was something odd about those guys' techniques," the blonde stated, holding up the rock, which suddenly began to glow a greenish hue under the light of the sun. "The source of their recovery powers and attacks comes from this."

"But… what is it?" Kankuro asked. Gaara furrowed his brow and raised his hand towards the stone, attempting to identify its origins by comparing it to the minerals making up his sand. He had a knack for figuring out the origins of particular substances by identifying their chemical makeup, which attributed to his overall ability as a sand user. However, upon scanning the stone and studying it for a moment, the boy became shocked when he found out something interesting surrounding the gem.

It wasn't on any particular origin from where the rock had come from.

No. It was what the rock actually was.

"It's… unbelievable. There's so much chakra radiating off of it," Gaara murmured, looking up at Naruto with a small look of surprise. "It's pure life energy, a property I've never heard of in a mere stone."

"I figured it would be something like that," Naruto exclaimed, and looked back over the horizon where Temujin and Kamira had flown off in. The Suna Genin stood at his sides, also looking in the direction he was.

The Kyuubi jinchuriki grinned.

"You guys come with me. I have one or two questions I have to ask the old man at the caravan…"

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	12. The Vein of Gelel

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The Vein of Gelel_

_**A few hours later…**_

_**Afternoon…**_

An explosion rocked the surrounding mountains as a loud howl of a wolf was heard, and an entire section of cliff was dislodged and sent tumbling down to the plateau's base. It seemed a little bit late for anyone to be scuffling at this hour, as it was so close to dark. However, in the ninja world, fighting could take place at anytime and anywhere.

Within the region and in the presence of the traveling caravan of nomads, another battle was being fought between two vicious combatants and judging from the extent of the damages forged into the landscape so far, it didn't take much to determine who it was that was fighting it out.

Tayuya let out a roar as she rushed at her opponent, _Melody Sword_ held back in a two-handed grip. She lunged, slashing out at the armored woman that had suddenly shown up out of nowhere. The knight in question crouched low and leapt into the air, avoiding the slash of her opponent's sword and growling in frustration, her aggravated exclamation resembling that of a dog's rather than a normal humans.

The fact that she had prominent canines in her snarl spoke more about her true abilities.

"Damn it! Master Haido didn't mention there would be some uptight bitch guarding these peasants!" the woman barked angrily, abseiling through the air briefly before landing on all fours atop of a large boulder sitting on the side of what looked like a road weaving through the canyons they were fighting in.

The traveling caravan stood parked not too far down the road.

The kunoichi didn't relent, rushing at her target full pelt before leaping through the air and striking down at her with her blade, expecting to slice her clean in two. However, Tayuya ended up striking rock, splitting the boulder in two instead of her intended target who had fled once more, dodging to the right and leaping across the slanted road. The shockingly strong woman came to stop at a safe distance away from the shinobi, dust and cape floating on the breeze.

Spinning around, Fugai gritted her teeth and once again, snarled at the redhead.

"You little whelp. I'm going to… ack…" Fugai suddenly froze, her entire body literally going numb and the piercing sound of a high pitch whistle filling her ears. Gritting her canine like teeth she attempted to move in an effort to break out of the invisible binds that clamped around her. These urges to escape turned into desperation, especially when she saw Tayuya round on her once again and begin rushing at her, with the intention of running her through with her sword.

Fugai tried to move again, but her legs didn't want to no matter how hard she tried.

And she was only seconds from getting cut in half.

"S-Shit… what the hell is this?"

She glared up at the redhead running at her and after a quick look over of her opponent, pinpointed the source of the problem.

The noise was coming from the kunoichi's sword; the entire length of the blade was lined with holes designed for a woodwind or brass instrument. As it moved through the air and the air was sucked into the chambers, it generated a very strange yet potent sound, almost derivative of a dog whistle or a few key notes on a wooden flute. What's more, the notes being played through the weapon were coming at her at a much louder volume, which meant something else was tripling its effects.

"That's it!" Fugai growled. _"I can't let myself get caught out by that! Not now!"_

Almost instantly upon spotting the problem, the young woman willed herself against the sounds. A loud snarl of a wolf resonated from her as her body started to stretch and grow, morphing in respect to her abilities.

Tayuya gasped when she unexpectedly saw the woman's bodily shape change, particularly her upper-body where she saw her entire head reshape and form into that of a dog's. Her snout elongated and her teeth extended into fangs. Seconds later, the warrior had transformed into an armored wolf-woman.

Her increase in strength ripped her out of her state of paralysis. Taking in a deep breath, the woman then unleashed a loud howl with the sound waves from her energized attack visibly traveling through the air in the form of a compressed stream of wind. The blast expanded as it hit Tayuya, the redhead biting back against the force of the attack as she was pushed along the ground on her own two feet digging their heels into the soil. Her sword was held up in defense while the shockwaves ripped apart her surroundings and her foundations.

Debris flew into the former Sound Nin, causing her much annoyance and a growl to escape her lips. At the same time, the kunoichi managed to keep her balance against the sonic waves blasting into her one after the other.

"Fuck! You're a loud bitch, aren't you?" Tayuya cursed, staggering forward when the stream ended and bringing her sword back around in preparation for a reengagement. She watched the armored woman back down from where she stood, exhausted. "It's time to shut you up!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Fugai hissed, her red piercing eyes intensifying in color as her snarl widened. She stepped forward, intent on locking claws with the shinobi once again, only to stumble a bit when her world suddenly went a bit pear shaped. _"Dammit… I can barely keep my balance. I can't fight her in this state… not after getting hit by her weapon's sonic waves."_

"Oh don't worry. It won't take me long to muzzle you up, you freak!" Tayuya exclaimed, holding her sword up higher to get her point across as the blade flashed in the sun. "Let's end this!"

"I'm not done yet! Unfortunately, I have other matters to attend to. We'll settle this later," Fugai barked back, her voice more animalistic in comparison to her previous tone. "Next time you won't be so lucky!"

With that said the transformed knight crouched low and turned heel, leaping away down the road and up the cliff side. Using the plateaus and ledges as platforms, she escaped without any trouble, leaving Tayuya and the caravan she had attacked in one piece.

The redhead shook her fist after the woman, the tip of her sword lowering.

"Yeah! That's right… _RUN_ you coward!"

Knowing her words were falling on deaf ears, Tayuya brought her fist down and sheathed her sword back onto her back. Shrugging, she too retreated from the battlefield and marched down the road to the caravan waiting for her.

The traveling village had stopped when the armored woman blocked off the road and began demanding them about a _stone_. Upon the villagers' reluctance to answer and Kahiko's immediate response effectively turning down the woman's questions, she attacked. If Tayuya hadn't been there, the woman would have ripped through the entire caravan and its residents without restraint.

It was an event she wasn't going to allow.

"Man, this is by far the _strangest_ week I've ever had?" Tayuya murmured as she came in sight of the forward carriage, petting the giant rhino on the nose as she walked on by. The docile animal murmured in appreciation, with the riders on the back of the head caravan thanking the young kunoichi for her efforts and for protecting them.

"Thank you so much," Emina, the woman who had been taking care of Tayuya, exclaimed as the young shinobi stopped beside the coach.

Tayuya smiled up at the driver and shrugged.

"It was nothing," she replied, putting her hands behind her head in a very Naruto like manner and turning to glare up the road where she had been fighting several minutes earlier. "I don't think she'll be bothering you anymore…" Hearing some more thanks from the children riding on the carriage, the kunoichi felt her spirit lift somewhat, and blushed lightly at their congratulations, especially when a couple of them hopped down to shake her hands and hug her. _"Man, is __**this**__ what it feels like to be thanked for saving someone? It feels… __**good**__… man… I should do this more often…"_

While amidst the rabble of children, and helping them back up onto the wagon, the kunoichi suddenly recalled what her opponent had been jabbering on about earlier. Her demands made presence in the area clear, though when she swung by the caravan, Tayuya had little time to contemplate over her words. However, now that her mind was clear of all distraction, the young shinobi double-backed on the subject at hand and turned to look back up at Emina, a curious expression on her face.

"By the way, what is this…_Stone of Gail_…_Geo_or whatever… what is it exactly?"

"You mean this?"

Tayuya jumped when she heard a new voice echo in and spun around where, from out of the blue, she saw Naruto drop in and onto the scene. Unexpectedly, two more people also dropped in behind the blonde, the individuals whom the redhead immediately recognized as shinobi from the _Village Hidden in the Sand_. It also came as a bit of a shock to the redhead when she recognized one of them to be Sabaku no Gaara. The identity of the second ninja escaped her. Nevertheless, she was certain she would find out who it was and why both of them were here.

However, she chose to focus on Naruto instead, clearly glad to see him by the way she smiled and scolded him from where she stood. No words were exchanged in those few seconds of silence when the spiky haired blonde walked up to her, at the same time reaching into his pocket for something important.

Nerugui, the ferret who was sitting astride his shoulder, leapt off of him and immediately made for Emina up in the caravans. It clambered up the face of the giant rhino and jumped into the woman's lap, happy to be back in familiar arms.

After rummaging around his pocket for a moment or so, Naruto eventually pulled out the object he was searching for. The stone he had been carrying flashed a bright greenish hue the moment it was shown the light.

"Is this what they were looking for?" the blonde asked with a proud smirk.

Tayuya blinked in awe when she saw the rock and leaned in to take a closer look. She was immediately captivated by the sheer beauty of the stone and reached up to touch the rock, but reframed from laying her fingers on it all the same.

"Wow…pretty…"

"Yeah, I know," the blonde smiled, before looking up at the woman riding the rhino above him. He saw Emina looking down at him curiously and in response showed her the stone as well. "Hey, where's the old man?"

"I'm right here."

Naruto, Kankuro, Gaara and Tayuya looked around to see the man in question approaching them from the carriage behind. The elder of the caravan had clearly been running errands the moment the armored woman showed up, checking up on the other members of the caravan to make sure they weren't hurt before coming back round to the head wagon to assess the situation. To his confusion, Kahiko soon found himself under the intense gazes of all four ninja present, all of them seeking answers.

He stopped short of the squad and smiled. "How can I help you kids?"

"You can start by telling us what this is."

Naruto turned towards the elder and briskly approached, before holding up the stone for him to see. The old man blinked in shock when he recognized the rock for what it was. He didn't need to answer any questions explaining how he knew what it was as the four of them saw the answer reflected in his eyes.

"This is what those armored guys came to this continent for," Kankuro said, also approaching the man in question and coming to stand alongside his brother and Tayuya. "They're looking for more of these stones to fuel their campaign…"

"Right, old man?" Naruto pressed, withdrawing the stone a bit so it didn't disrupt the elder's vision. He watched as Kahiko's face fall from its astounded look to a completely serious look, an exact opposite of his normally cheerful persona. "There's more to this gem then meets the eye and if I'm not mistaken, _your_ people have some sort of history with it…"

Kahiko sighed and looked up, his brow furrowing as he looked from one face to another. After a few moments of contemplation, spurred on by the continuous, questioning stares from the children surrounding him, he shook his head and fisted his hands tightly.

He was in a tight spot at the moment, what with the indisputable evidence laid out before him; there was no way he could fight back the secrets anymore.

"Once we arrive at our next destination, I will tell you everything you need to know…"

* * *

_**That night…**_

The caravan journeyed North Westerly for several more miles without rest after passing through the canyons. Naruto and his friends were forced to bear with the silence for a little while longer, taking up residence in the head caravan alongside Kahiko in order to keep an eye open for more trouble.

It was until they came across the outskirts of a colossal forest of mangroves and strangler figs overlooking the vast valleys that they had been traveling across, did the caravan draw to a halt. Upon arrival, the convoy immediately unpacked, the animals being tied down, fed and groomed, and the camping equipment being furled out and carried off. Only the necessities were taken from the carriages and brought under the shadows of the largest fig in the area.

Naruto, Kankuro, Gaara and Tayuya were unexpectedly led into the caverns of what they first assumed to be a cave formed under the base of the tree within its roots. However, as soon as the villagers established themselves within and set up camp fires to light up the catacombs, the shinobi found that the small network of tunnels underneath the tree was an old building of unknown design. Unlike any other architecture in the surrounding countries, the whole structure buried beneath the tree was made of stone and though severely faded over time, still bore the markings of those who had conceived it. The pillars, walls, ceilings and rooms, though now being penetrated by the roots of the tree above, still held the telltale signs of history, of a small civilization from long ago.

The villagers occupied the rooms closest to the entrance where the night air was strongest. Meanwhile, Naruto and his group were led into a separate chamber away from the other nomads. All but Kahiko, Emina and a few children the granddaughter of the elder was looking after, were left out.

The ninja scattered themselves around the room, Naruto and Tayuya taking seats in front of Kahiko's bunk, Kankuro planting himself beside some stalagmites and stalactites, and Gaara leaning up on a nearby wall. The chamber had a much more natural cave formation dominating its interior, with the hundred-year-old wall and entrance forged by previous residents' the group had passed under, being the only familiar element to all those present.

"So what's this all about?" Tayuya asked, glancing around her for no apparent reason, but mainly out of curiosity of her surroundings. "You went through all this trouble to take us to this place; meaning you couldn't tell us outside and this is a secret only meant for the dead to hear, or you just wanted to put up a damn show for us."

The kunoichi glared back at the old man as he made himself more comfortable, before he exchanged her glare with a serious gaze of his own. This visual indication gave the redhead her first answer.

"So… it's a _dead_ secret?"

"Grandpa and our clan have guarded the secrets of the _Stone of Gelel_ for hundreds of years now," Emina spoke up from where she sat amongst the children, most of them now asleep and completely ignorant of the conversation at hand.

A smile remained drawn across the woman's lips when all four ninja looked over in her direction in response to her words gently echoing throughout the small chamber. "It's our clan's greatest treasure, secret, and our greatest failing. This much we know, but as elder, grandpa Kahiko possesses the most important information on the stone, as it is his duty and has been for the leaders of our traveling village for years…"

Naruto, taking this as his chance to resume business as usual, pulled the stone out of his pocket, tossed it in his hand once, before holding it up to the light. "Enough waiting old-timer; tell us everything you know about this rock and why it is so important to those people looking for it."

Kahiko sighed and nodded his head. "Very well… but first, you _must_ understand that this is a very delicate and dangerous situation you are in, and is far more complicated than you can imagine. Those ruffians searching the lands around us are in it as deep as my people are…"

"Stop beating around the bush and tell us already," Kankuro snapped from where he sat by the columns of the stone. His expression reflected his impatience and frustration. "Those foreigners invaded our homeland and tore apart our villages searching for that… that… _thing_!" The teen shouted some more, jabbing his finger in the direction of the glowing stone. "It's caused us nothing but trouble…"

"You have no idea of the horrors that stone has brought to this world, my boy," Kahiko retorted, glancing over at the puppeteer, who did a double take on the elder at the glare he was thrown. The caravan leader glanced back over at Naruto, who lowered the stone so that he could better focus on his subject. "War and death are only the start of it."

The elder closed his eyes and cleared his throat, allowing himself a moment to compose before beginning a clear and concise speech, one that everyone fell silent to. "Years ago, our ancestors discovered a powerful mineral lying petrified beneath the lands of this continent; a mineral that possessed incredible life giving and healing properties, regressed into a raw form of rock. The true origins of the stone remain a mystery, but regardless of where it came from, it was an incredible substance, one more powerful than any other form of matter on the planet. Our people managed to mine it from the vein nestled within the bowels of the earth and refined the mineral into a crystallized form. I believe that stone you hold is in fact one of the very crystals created by our ancestors all those years ago," Kahiko pointed towards the gem in emphasis, a grave look on his face ever present. "That mineral was called _Gelel_…"

Naruto looked down at it and rolled the oval shaped jewel around in his hand. He could feel the power radiating off of it, but it didn't affect him at all. It just felt warm and somehow comforting. But from the way the elder as going about it, it sounded like the devil himself had been dug up from the depths of hell.

"So what was so good about the stone other than its ability to heal you and increase your strength?" Naruto asked, recalling his battle with Haido's Knights.

"The stone did more than cure people of great illness," Kahiko replied, closing his eyes in reflection of the subject. "Its power allowed an otherwise desolate wasteland to flourish and grow. It kept soils rich, wells and rivers full, animals plentiful, and allowed trees to bear fruit with every season. The powers of the stone gave life, and seeing this, our ancestors built a great empire with it, using the stone as its foundations. These caverns are made up of some of the only remaining elements of that civilization from that age…" the elder stated while gesturing to the walls behind him and the chamber around them, with both Kankuro and Tayuya becoming even more fascinated in the faded artwork painted into the surfaces of the ceiling and walls.

Gaara was as docile as ever, and though sparing a glance to the interior design of the room, remained fixated on the old man with his arms folded.

Naruto as well, kept his attention on Kahiko.

"But as usual, great power brought with it great catastrophe," Kahiko stated, his brow furrowing as he continued his story. "After the empire was established and a time of peace and prosperity fell over the lands, strife suddenly drifted over the kingdoms, and our ancestors found themselves quarreling shamelessly over possession of the mineral. The people fought over it and in the end, its power was used to wage a great war that tore the lands apart. As a consequence, the empire was destroyed and with it most of its inhabitants. Only a few remained to pick up the pieces within the ruins of their homelands, with those few survivors sealing away the mines of Gelel for good, never to rely on its power ever again." The elder ended this segment with a nod, his hands clenching his robes tightly where they lay on his lap. "The survivors from that war formed a clan, who split up in search of a new country to call home. One part of our clan migrated to the countries across the seas, while the other half of the clan remained here, watching over the stone… that was generations ago…"

"But why did you guys stick around?" Tayuya asked with a puzzled look. "If the mine of Gelel was permanently sealed, then there should have been no reason for your ancestors to stay in this country…"

"I didn't say the mine was _permanently_ sealed, child," Kahiko replied, looking over at the young kunoichi sitting next to Naruto. The fox that had been with Tayuya suddenly leapt up onto her lap and laid across her, finding comfort in her presence. "Our clan's ancestors had hoped to seal the mine away from the world so that it would never be discovered again by man, and that its secrets would die with its descendants. They had intended to destroy it the moment they sealed it… but unfortunately for them, only the bloodline of the royal family that ruled over the empire could destroy the mines permanently or control its powers completely. They were all wiped out in the war over the stone…"

"Well, there goes that plan," Naruto murmured, letting out a sigh and rubbing his chin in thought. He pocketed the stone for now so that he could properly mellow over the situation in his head without any distractions. "I'm guessing now that the only way to put an end to all of this is to kick the bad guys' butts until there's none of them left to even tell this tale as a bedtime story…"

"Heh, that should be easy enough," Tayuya grinned, slamming her fist into her open palm. "Screw taking out the main goal, we can just sneak into their moving fortress and slit their throats while they're asleep!"

"You make it sound so easy," Kankuro smirked over at the girl, crossing his arms. "First thing we have to do is catch up with them…"

"There is something else you all need to know as well," Kahiko spoke up, drawing everyone's attention back onto him again. Silence fell and with that the elder was able to work up his words, and directed them towards Naruto. "That boy in the armor that we found with you and Tayuya, the one that Nerugui took such a shine to… I… I have good reason to believe that _he_ is a descendant of our clan."

Stunned silence fell over the Suna Genin in their corners, the face of the teen that they had encountered flashing through their minds.

"What?" Naruto blinked in surprise, with Tayuya also looking up in astonishment at the news. "_That_ guy?"

"Yes," the elder nodded, closing his eyes as he recalled the evidence and information leading him to this conclusion. "As I mentioned before, years ago, a number of our ancestors crossed the seas in search of a new land following the great calamity. They left with not only our clan's crest on their vessels, but also a book chronicling our entire clan's history and information on the _Stone of Gelel_. This might explain why these foreign invaders have such knowledge of the stone, and _that_ boy is aiding their cause in their search for it."

"That's a snap," Kankuro muttered, furrowing his brow and rising to his feet. "So not only do _you_ know the secrets of the stone, but the bad guys as well."

"That branch of our clan across the ocean must have been wiped out, or grown naïve in their beliefs and knowledge of their history. That boy and his allies may have come to the conclusion that acquiring the stone will grant them power," Kahiko stated, giving a hard glare around at his audience. "Whether there are more survivors of that branch of our clan or not, it doesn't matter. But whoever is in _control_ of these invaders I can assure you is _no_ peacemaker. From what you've told me, he has gotten hold of more then one crystal of Gelel and twisted its powers for his own selfish ambitions, and he wants more." Kahiko stared hard at Naruto, sweat breaking out on his face. "He has turned soldiers into monsters through only a fraction of Gelel's power. Lord knows what he plans to do with the mines when he finds them!"

"Then we'll have to end this now," Gaara said while pushing himself off of the wall he was leaning against, and marching over to where Tayuya sat. "We cannot allow these mercenaries to get stronger, and risk them becoming a great threat to the shinobi nations…"

Naruto and Tayuya also stood up, joining both Gaara and Kankuro at the same level when they reformed into their odd squad. Luka hopped off of her owner's lap as soon as she felt the redhead rise to her feet, and instead of occupying shoulders, hopped around and stood beside the kunoichi. Nerugui, who had been in the company of Emina and the children for most of the time, under tender care and warmth, trotted over to accompany the fox by the line up of shinobi.

"Tell us where the mines are so we can stop them, old timer," Tayuya exclaimed, holding up a clenched fist.

Kahiko smiled and shook his head up at the energetic youngsters.

"It is highly unlikely that those war mongers will find the mines any time soon," the elder explained, earning curious and puzzled looks from his audience. "I'm the only one who knows where the mines are…"

"_**That's all I needed to hear…"**_

The group didn't have time to be surprised at the sudden manifestation of the voice, when a split second later the wall behind them was blown wide open. The group was showered by debris, rubble and a thick cloud of dust, which they barely had time to register to. Gaara shielded himself by forcing the cloud away through manipulation of the particles in the air, whereas Tayuya and the others shielded their eyes.

Luka and Nerugui scampered, while Kahiko was consumed by most of the blast.

"What now?" Naruto shouted, trying to catch a glimpse of their enemies through the smoke cloud.

All four shinobi glared through the dust, able to see the lights of the chamber beyond and the unexpected silhouettes that were framed the moment they stepped into view.

There was a flash of green light and the cloud parted suddenly when a dragon made up of liquid-wind came bellowing through. The entire group of Genin was unable to react in time when the attack slammed headlong into them and sent them flying into another wall across the room. Even Gaara's sand was unable to react in time to the surprise attack, but was able to absorb a great deal of the impact through his sand armor.

After the ninja disappeared behind a cloud of dust when they impaled the back of the cavern walls, Kahiko was then grabbed from behind and thrust into the threatening hold of Temujin. Sword at his throat the elder was backed out of the room, with the white knight holding him from behind and his companion Kamira standing at his side. The bat-woman hybrid kept an eye on the shinobi that had caused them so much trouble, grinning wildly the moment she saw them toppled by Temujin's _Rising Thunder_ technique.

"_They're_ not getting up for a while," the woman exclaimed, before turning heel and rushing out of the room. "Come on, Temujin!"

"H-How did you find us?" Kahiko choked, glancing back at the warrior holding him.

The armored blonde glared back emotionlessly. "Your caravan leaves trails. Besides… how can anyone miss a dozen giant rhinos and ostriches sitting outside of a cave?"

Without another word, Temujin picked up the old man and departed the room as well. Underneath the smokescreen of dust formed by their swift infiltration of the underground structure, he and Kamira slipped away unnoticed. They exited the cave and shut the entrance, which rolled over to prevent any would-be pursuers from keeping up. Once outside, Kamira transformed into her bat form and flew off with both her partner and their prisoner in tow. They were up and over the horizon before anyone had even figured out what had happened.

The civilians inside the assorted chambers were stunned by the two knights that had unexpectedly barged in, literally blanketing them with fog and flash bombs. Emina, the children and the animals were all bewildered and dazed from the break-in of _their_ chamber, while the four shinobi that were knocked into the back of the room were caught up in a different kind of bewilderment.

"It's funny…" Tayuya mumbled, while glaring over at her companion wedged into the same wall to her right from where she was sprawled against. "Because I swear to God you kicked that guy's ass before…"

"Don't blame me, blame the people that keep running from my punches," Naruto grumbled back, also looking to his right at the redhead.

Amusingly enough, while Tayuya was sprawled up against the wall the right way up, Naruto was upside-down and very pissed. Kankuro was sprawled horizontal to the floor and looking astounded, whereas his younger brother was face planted against the stone surface. Of course, Gaara managed to yank his body free, so when he turned around, his face and entire front body was cracked thanks to his sand shield bearing the full brunt of the technique. The sand user cracked his neck from side to side as the gaps in his armor closed up.

"Annoying…" the redhead muttered, strolling away to mope, while Tayuya pulled herself out and Naruto fell to the floor and onto his face. The jinchuriki recovered and managed to push himself back up onto his own two feet. At the same time, Kankuro yanked himself out of the wall using chakra strings on the stalactites and the cavern floors as leverage. By the time all four of them were up and about, they soon realized that their attackers had already left, along with their prize.

"Damn them!" Kankuro growled, slamming his fist into the wall. "When I get my hands on that bitch…"

"What are we going to do now?" Naruto murmured, dusting his trench coat down.

"We chase after those bastards! That's what!" Tayuya shouted, before storming towards the entrance without considering anything else around her. She waved her arm out. "Come, Luka!" The fox that was addressed came scurrying out from behind a nearby boulder it was hiding behind, and clambered up the girl's body and up onto her shoulder.

Naruto didn't bother complaining or protesting against his companion's forward suggestion, and followed suit, with Kankuro trotting behind. Gaara however, remained where he was.

"But how will we track them?" Gaara asked, earning a brief pause from Naruto, who stopped and looked back at the Suna Genin attentively. "This is unfamiliar country outside of Suna territory that goes on for miles. They could go anywhere."

Naruto furrowed his brow, ignoring the fact that Tayuya and Kankuro had already walked out of the decimated room.

He gave the situation further thought, whereas Gaara approached the newly made entrance in the wall with the intention of following after the other two to make sure they didn't leave the premises prematurely. A plan was needed. With Kahiko taken hostage and with their only lead as to finding out where the mines are gone, a new approach was needed.

In the meantime, Emina was helping out with the kids to put their gear back into place, with the woman also trying to calm down the more restless ones and cheer up the two youngsters who were crying. What with the destruction of the wall and the disruption of peace, they were still very shaken up.

Eager to not have another victim on his hands, Naruto walked over to the woman as she fussed over the debris and the material goods that had been caught up in the blast. He crouched down beside her with a questioning look, as well as grabbing up some of the blankets and clothes that were scattered around.

"We need to save the old man, Emina. Do you know where the mines are, or… or do you have any clues that can lead us to it? Compass directions, map coordinates, landmarks… anything at all?" Naruto asked, his voice showing his urgency. The woman, with a solemn look on her face, shook her head up at the young Genin.

"N-No… I'm sorry."

"Dammit!" Naruto muttered, rising to his feet and looking towards the entrance to the cavern. "Does anyone here have a tracking dog?" He marched after his friends through the rubble and post-mayhem. Eventually, when he reached the actual exit to the cave, he found Gaara, Kankuro and Tayuya staring oddly down at foot of the door.

When Naruto joined them, he saw the resident ferret of the caravan clawing away at the stone wall. Its nails dug deep into the surface of the barrier but did little to move the obstruction, much to its disappointment when it looked up at the four shinobi behind him. It barked pleadingly, asking them to open the door.

Naruto and Tayuya immediately knew what the little animal wanted, and looked at each other with serious expressions on their faces.

"Temujin?" Naruto queried.

"No doubt," Tayuya replied, remembering the mammal's attachment to the boy.

Kankuro immediately went for the hidden lever to open the door.

The stone barrier rolled aside, and within seconds, the four shinobi were outside and following Nerugui across the valley. They left both the cave and the caravan behind without a word, with the nimble ferret sprinting and bounding across the valley, following the invisible trail left behind by Temujin.

* * *

_**After miles and miles of running…**_

Naruto and Tayuya began to wonder whether the ferret was leading them in the right direction. When people usually looked for mines, they would go down instead of up. It was underground where all the precious stones were after all.

However, instead of leading them further down into the valleys and canyons, the ferret lead them on a more direct path uphill for most of the journey. They took the worst possible routes over mountains, limestone and what not, dodging trees and narrowly avoiding cliffs along the way. Though it wasn't difficult for the ninja, they still found it astounding that they were being lead deeper into unusual territory, uphill, with _this_ kind of terrain.

While they were passing through a gap between a forest and a steep cliff, they unexpectedly saw a beam of green energy shoot up into the sky from over the next ridge, light up the dark blanket of night, before shooting off in some random direction over the horizon. The four shinobi immediately recognized the signature behind that signal and picked up the pace, making sure to keep Nerugui in sight as they continued along winding and unpredictable roads forged into the wilderness.

If that signal was meant for Temujin's allies, then that means he must have coaxed the location of the stone out of Kahiko.

That worried them greatly.

"Now we know where to go," Kankuro smirked. "That moron doesn't even realize that that light can be seen for miles!"

The four ninja bounded over the apex of the next hill, and began heading further down into the mountain ranges. Within minutes, Naruto, Tayuya, Gaara, and Kankuro were maneuvering through cliffs, caverns and over plateaus in the lower regions, following each other's footsteps. They were able to mark the location from where the beam of energy had come from and stuck to that course with Nerugui in the lead.

It was a short while later, after more treacherous crossings and traversing that the landscape opened up some more. The night sky above clearly illuminated the mountains' regions around the four shinobi, revealing light cloud cover over the cliffs and telltale forests growing from various areas across the landscape. Unfortunately, they were unable to admire their surroundings for long, as Nerugui eventually lead them to the entrance of what appeared to be ruins at the foot of a cliff. Sparing a brief glance of astonishment, Naruto and his team continued their hunt for Temujin and Kahiko.

The Genin leapt down to the temple, through the ruined archway and into the labyrinth beyond, not knowing what potholes awaited them.

The ferret quickly lead them on a cat and mouse chase through the Escher style hallways passed the entrance, taking unanticipated turns left and right, seemingly impossible for ordinary people to follow. At one point, Nerugui even leapt over a five meter gap across a causeway in order to keep a lock on Temujin's scent, but this didn't slow the ninja's progress one bit. The teens kept at it, ducking occasional overhanging rubble and skipping through narrow spaces.

After several minutes of running down one hallway after the other though, Tayuya and Kankuro quickly grew impatient.

It didn't take long for one of them to snap.

"Fuck! Are there any signs in this God-forsaken place?" Tayuya shouted. "Where the hell is he taking us?"

"He's the only shot we have at finding those creeps in here, wherever they are," Kankuro replied, falling back behind as Naruto took the lead. The blonde took a hard right, making sure to keep Nerugui in their sights. "Animals know their way around even the most complicated of mazes on scent and sound alone."

"I hope you're right," Naruto murmured. "Otherwise we'll be stuck in here for a very long time if that cat gets us lost…"

"Let's try to avoid that," Gaara replied emotionlessly.

After skidding through another corner, the group became aware of a bright light cutting through the dark hallways. Quickly deducing that to be a way out of the passageways, the four of them ran for it, Nerugui still in sight.

"An exit!" Naruto exclaimed, his lips parting into a grin.

"Finally!" Tayuya shouted.

However, just as they were within two paces of it, Nerugui suddenly darted left. It was but a millisecond before Naruto realized there was no bridge over the chasm that suddenly appeared on the other side of the threshold. Being in the lead, the Kyuubi jinchuriki skidded to an immediate stop. He yelled in shock and waved his arms back swiftly in order to shift his forward momentum in the opposite direction when he nearly went over. Though he managed to stop himself from falling to his death, the other three following closely behind weren't so lucky.

Like dominoes, they collided into the blonde's back. First Tayuya, followed by Gaara, and then finally Kankuro, all of them sandwiching the drop before the force behind their run predictably knocked all four of them over the side. They all yelled in surprise, with Kankuro instinctively reaching back and grabbing the ledge they toppled over.

Catching each other as they went, the four of them all caught themselves from falling however they could. The puppet user managed to secure a good hold of the walkway above and took the trailing weight.

Seconds later, Kankuro found himself and his team dangling helplessly over the side, with his brother clinging onto his legs, Tayuya dangling from Gaara's shins, and Naruto hanging from Tayuya's thighs.

Unfortunately or fortunately from whoever's perspective, Naruto's face was pressed up against Tayuya's crotch, which made the kunoichi extremely uncomfortable. Her face flushed an instant red, and after the swinging stopped, she scolded the boy and kneed him in the stomach.

"DAMMIT, SHITHEAD! WATCH YOUR NOSE!" she screamed. The dazed blonde glared back up, annoyed.

"Alright! OW! QUIT KICKING ME!"

"Naruto!" Kankuro growled down at them, still fighting to keep his grip on the stone ledge. "Do… something… dammit!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm on it!"

Just as Naruto began clambering up his teammate, Luka, who had been riding shotgun in the back of Tayuya's shirt, clambered out of her collar and scurried up the ladder of shinobi. She leapt off of Gaara's face and up Kankuro's trousers, before brushing her tail passed the puppet ninja's face and hopping up onto the ledge above. She was shortly followed by Naruto, who also reached the top of the human rope.

Panting, the blonde glared down at the rest of his friends hanging over the side.

"Alright… you can start climbing… huh…?"

The blonde trailed off when he noticed something down the side of the chasm from where he was hanging. Far below lay a series of bridges and an elaborate construct of temple walls. However, while the architecture of the place was amazing, it was really the three people far below who caught his attention.

By the light of a bright, green aura, Temujin, Kahiko and Kamira marched across one of the narrow causeways several stories down, and disappeared into another tunnel out of sight. Presumably, they were still on the trail of the Gelel Vein, and the caravan elder was leading them.

If he was still alive, there was _still_ hope.

"Crap… let's get moving!" Naruto crawled up onto the ledge, and went out of his way to help pull Tayuya, Gaara and Kankuro back up onto solid ground. Given but a few seconds to catch their breath, the odd four continued on, this time with Luka leading the way.

Nerugui, unsurprisingly, was nowhere to be seen…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	13. Dark Heart

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Dark Heart_

_**Elsewhere…**_

_**Deep within the mines…**_

After traveling endless labyrinths and crossing many causeways deep within the intricate systems of the mines, Temujin and Kamira were then eventually led into a massive chamber about the size of the entire Hokage Mansion of Konoha.

This part of the system of caves was immense, with the echoing footsteps and the occasional drops of water rippling in small pools emphasizing the well structured acoustics of the cavern. The two foreigners found themselves surrounded by old structures and details of the former temple, which was still remarkably bound to the place, including the causeway they were negotiating in order to get to the center of the room, where a large platform held up by three large pillars stood. The natural cave walls and formations holding the place together did not subtract anything from the overall effect this place had.

It was breathtaking and mysterious. But Temujin and his commanding officer knew they weren't here to admire the geology down here.

Oh, actually, they were…

"Alright, old timer. You know this place better then anyone," Kamira stated, shoving Kahiko forward rather roughly, moving him further down the stone bridge towards the alter. "Lead the way."

Though Temujin found his companion's actions somewhat harsh, particularly when they were towards the elderly man who had helped him, he did not protest for fear of being reprimanded.

"Very well," Kahiko shot back, glaring at the armored woman. "There's no need for any unnecessary violence, child…"

"Hmph," Kamira smirked. "You're right. There's only need for necessary violence."

"Why do you do this, anyway?" Kahiko asked her, looking back at the pair flanking him, and earning another glare from the female warrior. "What's the point of all this?"

"What are you-?"

"Why do you hurt people every chance you get when your main intentions are the pursuit of peace? Does it satisfy you somewhat, knowing that you're stronger than the next person?" Kahiko pressed on, hoping to jab a more emotional response out of the woman harassing him. Temujin on the other hand, remained quiet. "This world is still too naïve to see the bigger picture. Youngsters like you think power is the only true element you must possess in order to achieve peace, and the only way to get people to cooperate is through fear. Pah! That's no way to achieve peace. If you ask me, this new world you seek to create is no utopia… it's a dystopia…"

Kamira gritted her teeth and stepped forward, glaring the man hard in the eyes. "What do you know? We only do what Master Haido asks of us. He's devoted his whole life to this, to us, and sacrificed everything he's held dear to achieve his dream. And once he's created his utopia, he's promised us a place in his world by his side, each and every one of us…"

"So… he's ruling over you through fear and empty promises too? Is that it?" Kahiko raised an eyebrow at the girl, getting a flinch and a step-back out of her. "What does he make you do, child? All his dirty work? I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, why would anyone like your master stain his hands with the blood of the innocent, when he has people like you to do it for him without question? Can you really live in a world of peace after everything you've done?"

Kamira frowned and looked away, her body shaking somewhat. Temujin took in as much of what Kahiko had said as his comrade, and was also quite affected by his words. However, he didn't show this outwardly.

"Shut up and keep walking," Kamira snapped back under her breath.

Kahiko huffed and did as he was told, leading the two warriors further towards the center of the cave.

However, just as they arrived on the three circular platforms making up the altar, Kamira sensed something behind them and wheeled around. The woman snarled in frustration when she spotted their unwelcomed guests overlooking them from above.

"Let Kahiko go, Temujin!" Naruto shouted, his voice echoing throughout the chamber.

Hearing his name addressed, Temujin wheeled around, at the same time drawing his sword and backing away. He too spotted the spiky haired boy flanked by his companions, all four of whom were glaring down at the causeway which they stood upon.

Temujin and Kamira took defensive stances, with Kahiko also looking up at the four shinobi in surprise, wondering how they could have found their way down to this place. However, those questions would have to wait.

The two armor-clad warriors watched as Naruto leapt down to the walkway from the ledge two stories above, and after making a controlled landing, begin marching towards them, fists clenched tightly.

"Stay out of this, Naruto!" Temujin shouted, his sword's blade flashing.

"No way. We got dragged into this mess, so we're gonna see this through to the end…" Naruto replied, continuing towards the three individuals locked in his sights. Kamira leapt in line of his path, forming a defensive line between the blonde ninja and their hostage. However, her presence didn't shake the Genin down one bit, who kept his glare squarely fixed on the white knight over the woman's shoulder.

Before Naruto could set himself into proper fighting form and ready himself for a direct conflict, a tremor in the earth followed by a light shower of debris from the cave ceiling overhead, stopped the blonde dead in his tracks. The falling rubble broke the tense atmosphere, and all heads turned upwards just in time to see the cave walls high above begin to split and crumble. The trembling ground violently shot up to earthquake levels, followed by a distant rumbling that started its way down towards the chamber.

Moments into the earthquake, the ceiling of the chamber caved in, and from the surface world far above, a behemoth appeared.

Naruto, Tayuya and Kankuro gawked up towards a massive machine that had suddenly drilled its way into the mines. The vehicle was lit up by torches setup at its front, illuminating both itself and the chamber. It was obviously a large drilling vehicle of some sort; with several mechanisms molded together along with saws, claws and a huge bulkhead for smashing through thick slabs of stone. All these devices making up the head of the engine appeared to do the trick, as the titan of a creation managed to penetrate deep into the very heart of the caves. The only ones out of the entire audience below on the walkways watching the abomination who didn't seem to be shocked were Kamira, Temujin and Gaara.

In spite of all the shock, Gaara did manage to voice his own opinion of the unexpected, ungodly contraption.

"Interesting…"

Tayuya scowled at him in an animated, comical fashion, and she shook her fist in the boy's direction.

"An enormous fucking worm made out of metal tunnels into the room and that's all you can say?"

The machine stopped moving, the whirring of its engines cutting out and echoing into silence. From where it sat, overlooking the entire chamber and the center platform far below, it halted. As soon as it did and the cave stopped collapsing around everyone, the machine initiated operations of a completely new section of its structure.

The sound of gears revving into life boomed into life, and reverberated throughout the dome shaped room. Beneath the drill heads a large platform lowered and was made known to the people below. When it descended to a certain level and stopped, Naruto and his friends who were still staring up in bewilderment at the tower were able to get a good look at the leader of the radical organization, most of them for the very first time.

Naruto knew who the person responsible for this whole thing was immediately on sight, whereas everybody else who hadn't been in the presence of the man before, ventured a guess that it was the tallest of the lot dressed in priestly robes standing at the front of the platform, flanked by his cronies.

Fugai stood at her master's side, along with several armored drones spread out around the platform, forming a defense around their master.

Kamira and Temujin dropped to one knee at the sight of the Lord, and bowed to their master graciously, whereas Naruto, Tayuya, Gaara, Kankuro and Kahiko gave the man well earned glares.

"Master Haido," Kamira explained.

"The _Vein of Gelel_ lies below," Temujin stated, smiling up at his mentor proudly.

"Thank you my children, I am in your debt," Haido exclaimed with a grand smile on his face. He withheld no gratitude towards his two disciples and nodded back down to them in recognition of their actions, giving them consent to rise back to their feet. "Because of all your sacrifices, our utopia is finally near at hand."

"**Yes, my Lord!" **Temujin and Kamira replied.

"Very well then everyone, let's get going," Haido stated, turning heel and preparing to return to the bridge of his stronghold to have it continue drilling.

However, the moment he started moving passed his armored guard, there was a rush of wind and out of nowhere a huge hand of sand came rushing at the group on the platform. Haido gave the approaching goliath limb a brief glare before it suddenly slammed itself atop of the structure with incredible force, engulfing the entire enclave riding astride the steel podium. The ceiling supporting the tower nearly gave way under the pressure as the giant machine was rocked by the force of the hand's impact.

It would have been ripped clean of its foundations.

But just as quickly as it had come, the attack crumbled around the platform it was encasing, and streams of sand began pouring back down toward ground level.

Temujin and Kamira looked on in shock, having not expected such an immediate attack.

Meanwhile Kahiko, still standing behind his captors and in one piece no less, slowly began backing away further onto the platform the three of them were standing on. His feet felt away at the ground as the commotion before him distracted all observers from his actions.

Naruto, in response to the sand colossus that seemingly crushed the bad guys, wheeled around and looked up towards the ledge where the rest of his team stood, where he saw Gaara with his own hand extended and a cloud of soft sand hovering right outside of his gourd.

The redhead simply blinked as he withdrew the mass used in the attack and glared down towards the walkway below.

"Missed…" the Suna Genin murmured.

Naruto then glanced down in the direction of his companion's glare.

To his astonishment, he saw Haido, Fugai and their bodyguards standing unharmed just several meters away, between both his and his teammates' position up on the ledge. Their formation remained unbroken, with the only issues they had sustained from Gaara's sneak attack was sand dirtying their clothes.

Haido brushed the grains off of him with a rather uncaring look on his face.

"My, what a rude welcoming," the man exclaimed, sounding offended. After dusting himself down, he then turned around and looked up at the trio on the ledge above.

He watched as the boy who had attacked him summon the sand cloud to float in front of him, while the red haired girl beside him drew her sword and the older boy wearing the black garb, made a grab for the body-shaped weapon wrapped in gauze on his back, and propped it up in front of him. The sight had the bishop raise an eyebrow. "Goodness. Children these days… fine manners are so hard to come by…"

Haido smiled and then glanced over his shoulder towards the boy he recognized out of the crowd, whom he had met before. "They're not friends of yours, are they…Naruto?"

Naruto smirked. "They are…"

"I'm a little bit puzzled, my boy," the Lord replied, turning towards the spiky haired youngster to better face him. "I thought we made a promise to one another, did we not? We swore that we would do our best to make this world a better place?"

"Hmph," Naruto rounded on the man, taking a more confrontational stance. "You can drop the act your worship. We know what your real goal here is."

"If you really were a man of peace, then you wouldn't have the need to be seeking it through unnecessary violence and war!" Kankuro shouted down towards the armored group from the ledge. His hand slowly unraveled the straps around his puppet Crow, just in case the drones tried anything. "If you had simply approached our people in the first place without a club or a sword in hand, and asked our leaders permission to enter our lands to excavate for your precious stones, then we would've gladly looked the other way. But plowing through our villages and slaughtering our people is not a very _peaceful_ way, pal!"

"So spill it you old bastard," Tayuya also shouted, slamming her sword's tip into the ledge in front of her with a loud clang. "You're just here to steal the stones for your own gains, aren't you?"

"What's with all these preposterous allegations?" Haido shrugged his shoulders with a smile, turning back towards the people up on the ledge. "Violence? War? Slaughter? Gains? These ill things you speak of were simply unavoidable sacrifices for the greater good; _noble_ sacrifices necessary to create a world without war. All that I did was in the name of true justice after all." The unwavering smile never left the bishop's lips. "Your people were simply… in the way…"

"Heh, we can see you for what you really are, you old fuck," Tayuya grinned, her grip tightening around her sword's handle. "Your heart is as black as the lies you spout!"

"Lies?" Haido chuckled.

"You've brainwashed your followers into believing you're out to create a better world. But in reality, you're simply in this for your own benefit," Gaara replied with a frown. "We know how much power the stones grant you and you've become immersed in obsession over them."

"You fed false promises and dreams of a perfect world to Temujin and those children you imprisoned onboard those ships of yours!" Naruto stated, pointing over towards the blonde knight standing in front of Kahiko. "Them, Temujin, and those girls are just a means to an end to you!"

Temujin glared at the blonde. "You can never understand what we've been through," the knight spoke over from where he stood, drawing Naruto's attention to him. "Master Haido took me in when no one else would. He accepted us for who we were and gave us meaning in life. What do you know about being alone and finding salvation?"

Naruto frowned and glared at the boy. He still had an axe to grind with the knight, so it was becoming extremely difficult maintaining his composure in his presence. However, the jinchuriki knew there was a big relation between himself and the teen, and he knew this to be true by what he had said.

He was once alone too… both of them were.

"Believe me, I know what its like," the young Genin hissed, before rounding back on the ringleader. "And I know that sacrificing your friends isn't a way to accomplish something. And all for a stupid rock?"

"It can't be helped, my boy," Haido exclaimed. "All of us here share a common vision; a dream of a world where peace is finally possible. Sacrifice in this time is the only means to accomplish a goal. And so history shall make its greatest sacrifice to us in exchange for all those who have given their lives in pursuit of this dream. Our brethren and the stones will help bring about our utopia."

"That's a whole load of shit!" Tayuya yelled. "Everyone here knows that! Using others like they are pawns to grab power for yourself is the most disgusting act anyone can perform, and I know!"

"Your friends and comrades are the most important things anyone can have. They sure as hell helped me out more times then I can even count!" Naruto stated and stepped forward. "This illusion of yours is just garbage, leaving a trail of dead bodies in its wake! That's why we're ending this, right here and now!"

Before any action could be taken by the surrounding shinobi, the earth shook and there was a loud rumble. Everyone felt it.

At first, both groups thought that another earthquake was hitting, either as a natural occurrence or from a foreign source. Even Haido was looking around in confusion, wondering what was going on. However, this event was even closer then they thought, and both groups locked onto the source of the problem.

Wheeling around, Naruto saw the pillar Kahiko, Temujin and Kamira were standing on shift and suddenly begin sliding away to the far side of the room, where it quickly jutted to a halt. The sight caught everyone off guard, catching Haido by surprise as he and his guards turned in the direction of the commotion.

Kamira and Temujin spun around where they stood on the platform, and glared towards the old man behind them. After leaving him to his own devices for so long they shouldn't have been as surprised as they were, but the elder had pulled a fast one over them, as he was operating a ground based mechanism, prompting the pillars to separate.

Kahiko glared back at the pair from where he stood, his foot resting on the stone slider which allowed him control over the pillar they were on.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kamira hissed.

"It's time the _Stone of Gelel_ was eliminated from the world once and for all! Even if it means our doom!" Kahiko stated, pushing his foot down on the switch.

The pillar then suddenly shot down straight into the ground.

Kamira managed to transform into her bat form and take flight before anything happened to her, and so remained suspended in the air overlooking the altar as it disappeared down a funnel and deeper into the mines. Naruto sprinted over to the ledge at the end of the walkway and glared down the tunnel Kahiko and Temujin disappeared down. He was unable to do anything as the entrance was blocked off by a stone slab or gate rolling over the gateway and sealing it shut. All that remained of the former pillar was the stone cover with the Gelel crest engraved on it blocking the passageway leading deeper underground.

The blonde cursed. "Dammit…"

"Eliminate the stone?" Haido unexpectedly shouted, his face tightening into a scowl and his fists clenching.

Desperate to find an answer, he pulled out a book from under his robes, opened it, and began flicking through pages. "Impossible! Can the stones even be eliminated? Grrr… USELESS!" The man roared and threw the book down in anger. "That old man must know something I don't…"

Turning heel, he began marching towards the end of the walkway where the platform previously was. The book revealed nothing to him, and so he decided to investigate the issue himself in order to uncover more of this chamber's secrets. However, as soon as he began making his approach, he found his path blocked by Naruto and Gaara

Both jinchuriki stood in his way, ready for a fight.

"You're not going anywhere, old man!" Naruto stated.

Haido, furrowing his brow, simply shook off the boy's words and continued marching forward without a care in the world. He simply disregarded their presence, as if he had nothing to fear.

Gaara responded to the man's continued approach swiftly. His arms folded as usual, he subconsciously summoned the cloud of sand hovering behind him to come about. Gathering into a greater mass fed by his gourd, a tendril of sand then shot straight towards the leader with the intention of bringing him down.

Unexpectedly though, Haido, now beginning to lose his composure and his mask of passiveness, raised his right fist and literally back-handed at the stream of sand charging him down. There was a flash of light and in the blink of an eye the cloud of grains was unexpectedly batted aside by an invisible force, which literally exploded outwards at its execution.

Both Gaara and Naruto stood flabbergasted when the mass of sand charging its target down was dispersed back into dust on the wind, and they watched as Haido effortlessly continued his approach towards them.

Before they could reassume fighting forms, the old man about ten meters in front of them suddenly flickered out of sight. A bat of an eye later, and both jinchuriki found themselves looking up at him just two feet in front of them. They had little time to respond when the bishop, using speed unanticipated by either of them, sent a hook straight across both their faces in a single blow, and threw both Genin flying into walls on different sides of the colossal chamber.

The two boys were both knocked out instantly and impaled within the limestone supports of the caverns.

Tayuya and Kankuro were bewildered.

"Fuck! Where did that come from?"

His minor obstacles out of the way, Haido marched on towards the entrance to the tunnels below, and leapt down to the stone gateway in the center of the room. Crouching low, he rammed his fist into the barrier. The blow literally shook the cave and caused the barrier to split and crack, before it ultimately gave way in a rattling blast of rubble and debris. Air pressure beneath the formerly sealed entrance shot upwards, sending dust into the air as Haido rose back to his feet and glared up towards his two remaining disciples up on the walkways.

"Hurry! Bring the stronghold down into the caverns and begin harvesting the mines at once, Fugai!" Haido barked at the woman up on the walkway. "I'll go on ahead and ensure the safety of the Gelel Vein!"

"Yes, my Lord!" the addressed woman replied, bowing.

Beckoning for his armored soldiers to follow, Haido turned his attention back to the now open funnel leading further down into the mines. Four red orbs suddenly appeared hovering over his back and sprouted what looked to be wasp like wings made up of a solid material. Without another word, he leapt down the funnel and began falling in pursuit of Kahiko and Temujin. The three drone soldiers accompanying him followed suit.

Fugai smirked at her master's absence and turned, preparing to head back towards the machine. However, just as she was approaching the platform, a figure dropped down from above and landed in her path. Caught by surprise, she watched as the red haired girl that had previously been watching from the ledge rise to her feet and drop into a fighting stance in front of her, sword drawn.

"We're not finished yet!" Tayuya exclaimed with a grin, twirling her weapon around and holding it forward in a two-handed grip. "I've got a score to settle with you."

"You've got some nerve," Fugai growled, her rising frustration causing her voice to become more gravely and animalistic. Her transformation immediately underway, the young woman then grinned at the shinobi in front of her, her teeth becoming elongated and dog-like. "Well, since you're so desperate to go to hell, I'll gladly give you a first class ticket!"

Tayuya grinned and lunged forward, slashing her sword at the armored warrior. Swiftly, the woman in her sights shot straight up into the air, leaving her cape behind to get sliced clean in two by the kunoichi's _Melody Sword_. The red head glared after the armored female as the woman flipped through the air and landed down on the ground floor three stories below the causeway.

Rushing to the edge, the shinobi watched as her opponent's body quickly shaped and changed as it had done so before, adapting within her armor, before taking the shape of her wolf form. White and black fur now adorning her previous human form and her snout lengthened in respect, the now transformed Fugai shot a fearsome glare up at her target, a snarl escaping her lips.

She grinned as she growled. _**"I know what your game is! Don't think I'll get caught a second time!"**_

Tayuya smirked.

"Hah! Now things are getting interesting!"

With that, Tayuya leapt off of the causeway and dove straight down at her opponent, sword screeching as it cut through the wind.

* * *

While Tayuya's reengagement with her opponent was going on, Kankuro's was just getting started.

The Suna Genin unfurled his puppet Crow and brought it in front of him, chakra strings providing the connection between master and machine. In his preparations, the wooden man clicked and rattled as it moved about at its wielder's will, who smirked widely as he locked onto his opponent.

Kamira, still performing cartwheels through the air, grinned at the Suna Genin as he readied himself, and floated towards him with her wings spread out in a taunting manner.

"_**Come on then, handsome! Let's continue where we left off!"**_ the bat woman hummed seductively.

Kankuro grinned. "With pleasure!"

Thrusting his hands out, he beckoned silent orders to his puppet. Crow leapt off the ground and flew through the air straight towards the woman, who immediately performed a flip at the approaching puppet, avoiding its flailing, blade-lined arms.

Crow shot passed its target, before cutting back around and flying back at her. In that instant of directional change, its mouth opened and out from is throat, a kunai launcher appeared. Snapping gears echoed throughout the chamber as kunai were launched systematically at the vampire, who grinned and cart wheeled expertly in midflight, evading the barrage before taking wind.

Kankuro gritted his teeth and gave hot pursuit of his opponent, his puppet chasing after the woman and repeatedly firing kunai after her one after the other.

Further down, Tayuya was still crossing her sword with Fugai's claws, the werewolf woman proving to be a dangerous close-quarter combatant as she literally ran rings around the girl. The former Sound Nin yelled out in effort as she attempted to hit the warrior, rushing at her and slashing out with her blade, only for the wolf woman to dash left or right in a blur, her all-fours approach to combat keeping her out of reach of both the sword and the sound waves emitted from the flute holes cut into the blade.

"_**Hahaha! You're too slow girl!"**_

Landing behind Tayuya after a near-miss and watching the kunoichi pull her blade out of the ground with her back turned, Fugai grinned and inhaled sharply. After which, she then let out an earsplitting howl, her own sound attack entering the fray.

The sonic blast charged Tayuya down, ripping the earth apart at the sheer volume the technique possessed. Caught off guard, the kunoichi took immediate action and leapt straight up into the air, avoiding the more lethal area of the attack, but still being hit by the resonating blast. However, this did little to deter the kunoichi.

As the red head flipped through the air, she slapped her hands together and, upon landing back onto the causeway above, slammed her hand into the ground.

"_Summoning Jutsu_!"

A cloud of white smoke exploded around her, and once again, the red head found herself sitting astride one of her summons' shoulders. The long haired doki wearing green and wielding a club made its appearance on the scene, and with a low grumble, slammed its weapon into the ground in an intimidation tactic.

Fugai gritted her teeth when she found herself staring up at the goliath of a beast that had just entered the scene. _**"What the hell is that thing?"**_

"Your death! That's what this is, you freak!" Tayuya exclaimed, taking up her sword and holding it in front of her. The movement of her sword prompted the Doki to move as well, the club wielding goliath pulling up its own melee weapon and holding it in front of it in a two handed grip.

Just like its master, it prepared itself for combat.

* * *

Elsewhere in the caves, Naruto and Gaara managed to pull themselves out of the walls they were stuck in. Though disheveled and pretty much shaken up from the unexpected pummeling from the Doctor Jekyll preacher, they managed to brush off their annoyance and get their act together. The Sand Genin met up with the Kyuubi Jinchuriki at the entrance to the tunnel, with both of them glaring down into the darkness below on opposite sides.

It seemed like a long drop, something they'd need to abseil down rather then jump and… well… die. But this didn't seem to worry them.

Naruto looked across to his friend with a frown in play.

"I've got a fight to finish here, Gaara," the blonde stated. "You killed your guy, now it's my turn. I'll go in alone."

"Will you be okay?" the stoic Genin asked. "That man is powerful. I've never seen anyone move that fast before…"

"I'll be fine," Naruto grinned. "He may be stronger then Temujin and Sasuke put together, but I can deal with him. You focus on getting any kids trapped in that machine out of there!" The blonde pointed up towards the behemoth sticking out of the cave wall high above. It was a daunting sight, but there didn't seem to be anymore of those armored goons marching about.

"If those ships that attacked your country were run on people's energy, then I can guarantee there will be people imprisoned on that thing as well. Save them."

"Will do," Gaara nodded. "Be careful."

With that said the Suna Genin leapt up onto the causeway and then up onto the platform beneath the monstrosity. He immediately began rushing up the stairs, and disappeared into the bowels of the vessel wedged in the rock face.

It was at the immediate leave of Gaara, Naruto turned back towards the tunnel, and the harrowing task set out before him. Not even taking into consideration how far the bottom was, the boy smirked and leapt down into the shaft. Slamming his feet against the wall of the stone funnel, and using the chakra at the base of his feet to add slick and suction to his descent, he began sliding down into the abyss. Assured that he still attached to the walls, he began spiraling down and down, picking up speed as he went.

"Here I come!" the jinchuriki's voice echoed away, his presence from the scene disappearing completely seconds later.

* * *

"Fucking… BITCH!" Tayuya roared, swinging her sword around and slashing it downwards while she stood at her Doki's feet, which mimicked her actions with its own melee weapon as it attempted to clobber the nimble wolf woman hopping around the place.

However, the only things that fell before Tayuya and her summon were stalactites, stalagmites and boulders, all of them shattering on impact of the massive club swinging around.

All the while, the kunoichi's primary target continued running laps of the chamber area they were fighting in, being but a shadow moving swiftly through the dark before the shinobi's eyes. But being a ninja, the young red head was still able to keep a lock on her opponent's movements and position through a combination of sight, hearing and smell.

"_She stinks like wet dog, but she moves like a hawk!" _Tayuya thought, commenting on her target's movements, spinning around and slashing behind her when she picked up on the wolf woman's footsteps. Her doki copied her actions, the goliath bringing down yet another section of wall with its colossal attacks, only for the evolved warrior to leap out of the way to safety.

Fugai cackled as she landed on a ledge high up and out of reach of the giant lashing uselessly after her, and glared down at the frustrated girl controlling its movements.

Though the timing of the beast and its master was off by a second, she wasn't going to risk a direct attack against them, with good reason.

One, the profusely swearing redhead, though not exactly in the same league of speed with her, was still vicious and accurate with her attacks and with that sword in hand, made it difficult for Fugai to attack her head on. The difference in their skill was off by a hair's breadth Secondly, the monstrosity mimicking its master's actions was just as accurate as the redhead herself, and though it couldn't see, was getting way too close with several of its attacks. It was unusually coordinated and fast for its size, and with its strength, if it got lucky, it could kill her in one hit.

Fugai would have to get within that monster's attack range, and while avoiding her opponent's attacks, get her from a blind spot.

She just had to figure out what it was first.

"_**Your legs not working properly? Can't bother chasing after me? Come on! Is that the best you've got, brat?"**_

In response, Tayuya pinpointed her opponent's present location and, using whatever strength in her legs she could muster without putting too much strain on them, leapt straight up towards the woman where she was crouching, her summon remaining planted in the middle of the causeway at her order.

The redhead, when at level with and in range of her opponent, lashed out at the woman with her sword. However, the armored girl leapt back in avoidance, and began ducking and weaving around the girl's attacks when she landed and pressed on with her assault. This frustrated the kunoichi to no end, causing the transformed Fugai to laugh at her distress.

"_**Not this time!"**_ Fugai exclaimed, picking up on the sound waves resonating off of the sword.

Ducking a slash meant to remove her head from her neck; the wolf woman crouched low and spun a low kick at the kunoichi's legs. The spin kick swept Tayuya's legs from under her and the girl fell to the floor, close to the ledge they were fighting on high up above the ground.

Wincing at her crash fall, Tayuya quickly tried to get up, only for Fugai to grab a handful of dirt and throw it at the girl's face.

The red head yelped in surprise when she was blinded by the dust, and desperately tried to clear her eyes. But her opponent didn't allow her the time and lunged, aiming to push her over the edge or gnaw her.

However, her sense of awareness and adrenaline running high, the former Sound Ninja quickly evaded the strike and expertly back-flip off of the ground to avoid the clawed hook.

Because she was so close to the edge, Tayuya unexpectedly threw herself over the side and down towards the bottom of the chamber, which was quite a long drop away.

Unable to see, the girl instead relied on her Doki several stories below for its sense of sight via its hearing, so as she fell back and manipulated its movements at a distance with her sword, the behemoth managed to catch her in its massive hang. It then gently placed its master down on the ground, allowing her to stagger around and wipe her eyes clean.

But when she tried to open them, all she got was blurred vision from the dust still caught under her lids.

Fugai laughed and began leaping around the chamber again, leaving her position on the ledge to get behind her opponent again.

"_**Let's see you try to get me this time!" **_the wolf woman barked. _**"You rely way too much on those eyes of yours! Me… I can fight you on smell alone!"**_

"_Damn her!" _Tayuya cursed, spinning around as she attempted to track her opponent's movements.

But try as she might, this time she was unable to get a complete lock on her like before, as the nimble woman used the chambers acoustics to mess with her sense of hearing. The echoing of her footsteps, her leaps and her landings meant that she could be anywhere.

The redhead cursed endlessly, but with a few deep breaths, managed to snap herself out of her panic.

"_Calm down, Tayuya. You can't find her if you don't concentrate…"_ Sighing, Tayuya relaxed her stance and straightened herself. Breathing in at a labored pace, she took her sword up and lowered it to her side in a two handed grip, readying it to attack. At the same time, she began using her ears and her head to seek out her opponent leaping around in the dark. In her eyes, it was pitch black. But as she concentrated, she began getting a clearer picture of her surroundings.

"_Just relax. Every footstep and breath has a source…"_

She managed to get a good idea of her surroundings, not just from memory, but also from all the other sounds going on around her. The redhead completely cut out Kankuro's battle going on in the chamber's air space above her, and instead focused on the nimble figure running circles around her, and leaping from place to place. She followed the shadow in her mind as it attempted to get around her, probing her defenses for a weak spot.

The footsteps of her target reverberated through the ground and stone, and Tayuya was able to pick up these vibrations through her feet. The wolf-woman's panting and breathing also resonated through the air, and Tayuya was able to pinpoint the sounds her vocals made with sonar like accuracy.

However, even with this, and even with her Doki standing over her, it wouldn't provide her with an absolute defense.

But maybe she could use her summons's presence to her advantage.

After all, _**she**_ was the target.

There was a rush of wind as the shadow finally made its move. Fugai made a beeline straight for her from a ledge high up above and behind the redhead. Claws extended and jaws agape, ready to clamp down around her neck, the armored woman dove for her.

She was right on her mark as she aimed for the girl's back, and was just within striking distance when something unexpected occurred.

"GOT YAH!" Tayuya roared, eyes flying open as she spun around and struck out. With a yell of effort, she lashed out at the woman with the full force of her attack put behind her sword. Fugai's eyes widened in shock when she saw the girl spin around, and the flash of steel which was her sword coming in from the left.

"_**DAMMIT!"**_ Fugai shouted, slamming her feet down into the ground as she leaned back, attempting to stop her forward motion.

Her toes made contact with the ground, just barely, and with all her strength, managed to push off of the ground and throw herself in the other direction. Tayuya's sword passed her, the tip of the blade managing to graze the hairs on her nose… _barely_.

As Fugai flew backwards over the side of the causeway and back up towards the ledge where she had jumped from, she barked a laugh.

"_**HA! YOU MI… WHAT?" **_Fugai's eyes widened again and she looked up, a shadow overcoming her.

She had completely forgotten that Tayuya controlled her hulking summon through the sound of her sword. So when the redhead lashed with her sword, the giant mimicked.

It escaped the armored woman's mind that the beast also extended her opponent's range of attack.

The blind Doki followed through, copying Tayuya's sword movement as it came around with its club, its delayed attack making its mark. With its full strength put behind the weapon, just like Tayuya's missed strike, it slammed its metal club full on into the woman's side. The blow was so immense; it cracked Fugai's armor and shattered her bones, sending her flying into the wall on the other side of the chamber. The woman's cry of agony echoed away in her brief flight.

When she hit the wall, it gave way beneath her impact as she was buried right into the heart of the stone, disappearing from sight as rubble cascaded around her.

The earth shaking blow nearly brought the entire ceiling down, and after watching her opponent roll over for the last time, Tayuya grinned and straightened up. Twirling her sword around her all-cool style and sheathing it onto her back, she placed her hands on her hips and admired her handiwork. Her doki seemed to do the exact same thing, continuing to copy its master's movements and also placing its hands on its hips.

"Enjoy being six feet under, dattebayo!"

Tayuya looked up, blinking in shock.

She then slapped herself in the face.

"What the fuck was that? That was WEAK!"

* * *

_**Meanwhile…**_

"Get back here!" Kankuro shouted as he literally threw crow in the direction of his opponent, keeping his wooden man locked onto his target and not giving her a chance to get away. However, the bat girl was proving to be a much tougher battle then before.

In a confined space the girl was easy to hunt down even when she was hiding. A shinobi fought best in the shadows after all.

However, in open spaces like this chamber, she was much harder to fight. Instead of using illusions in order to stagger his movements, she was sticking strictly to maneuverability, and this was keeping her several paces ahead of him. Kamira was obviously a master of spatial concepts as well as air currents, so whenever Kankuro came back around at her with Crow, he always ended up missing her by several inches. She laughed at him every time his puppet overshot and had to forcefully stop itself against a hard surface.

"_**Breaking a sweat yet, sweetheart?" **_the girl exclaimed, performing some more aerodynamic back flips through the air, taunting him. _**"That's okay; you've actually got me working up a faucet up here."**_

"Shut up already!" Kankuro shouted, his fingers working through another combination as Crow leapt off of a wall and leapt up towards the woman. It extended its arms, blades appearing along the lengths of its limbs again as it attempted to tackle the woman.

The puppeteer's opponent though, decided to tease Kankuro some more. Performing a daring maneuver, she dove at Crow and landed on its shoulders and above its head, grabbing it with her clawed wings in the process. Their impact caused Crow to falter a bit, and while her wings encased its head, unbeknownst to its user, began to tamper with it.

But Kankuro was having none of it. Quickly flipping his fingers round, he ordered the puppet to trap her while she was in extremely close proximity of it. However, when its arms snapped around to encase her, she kicked off of the puppet and sent it spiraling back down to solid ground.

Kankuro shot through hand movements and redirected his puppet's descent, keeping it from hitting the ground.

Kamira laughed as the wooden spider regained flight and started towards her again.

"_**A persistent toy you have there. It surely would have gotten me if I hadn't moved at the last second," **_Kamira grinned, beginning to hover in place as she watched the wooden instrument fly straight up, and after gaining several stories of height above her, dove straight at its target. _**"However…"**_

When Crow lunged, she expertly dodged left and sent a kick across its head. The blow sent the puppet spiraling towards its wielder, who leapt out of the way just in time for the puppet to hit the ground where he stood seconds before. His puppet rolled to a stop, and creaked uncomfortably at how it was being treated.

Infuriated by how his puppet took the attack, Kankuro glared back up at the giggling girl, who continued to perform an array of elegant flips and cartwheels through the air. Her taunting was starting to get on his nerves.

"_Alright, this is no time to get worked up…"_ Kankuro thought. _"She's confined to this chamber, so there's a limited amount of space for her to maneuver around. Maybe I can use this room to my advantage." _Beads of sweat ran down his face as he thought hard for a strategy, while at the same time following the girl as she floated higher into the air.

It was then he spotted something interesting.

Lining the ceiling were stalactites; hundreds of them. Not to mention huge slabs of rock that could go at any moment. He grinned at his luck and laced his chakra strings with his downed puppet once again.

With a twitch of his digits, Crow leapt to its feet and spun around. The reengagement with his puppet caught Kamira's attention, causing her to stop cart wheeling through the air for a moment.

"_**Heh, want to try your luck again? Alright then,"**_ she exclaimed in a sultry voice, flipping over in the air and waving her fanny in his direction. _**"Come on! Let's see you hit this!"**_ She slapped her derrière as added emphasis.

"I'd like to hear you talk big after this one, lady," Kankuro chuckled, flicking his finger and causing Crow's lower jaw to snap open. The puppet took aim at the girl and fired off a series of kunai at her.

Kamira smirked and rolled in midair, dodging the barrage of a dozen knives as they sailed passed her.

"_**Ha! Missed again!"**_

Unknown to her though, _she_ wasn't the target. The kunai hit the ceiling in several key positions, Kankuro smirking in satisfaction when he heard the sweet sounds of the knives digging into the rock face. As soon as they did, the paper tags wrapped around the handles unfurled and ignited.

After three seconds of hissing, the knives detonated, the simultaneous blasts being so great they literally cracked and split the roof, causing the entire area above Kamira's air space to cave in.

The girl looked up in shock when she saw the entire cave ceiling above become engulfed in explosions and begin collapsing right on top of her.

"_**Oh no!"**_

She made a desperate dive for safety to keep ahead of the falling rubble and debris, every so often dodging a stalactite that fell away, as well as large chunks of earth that could have caused her serious damage if they had hit. However, she expertly weaved through the chunks of the debris, and once she had cleared the danger zone at a low altitude, she felt that she was out of danger.

Kamira planned to strafe the ground as soon as she got low enough and gathered more speed. However, just as she was nearing level zero, she failed to notice Kankuro summon another one of his puppets and throw it directly beneath her.

Just as she looked ahead, she was unable to stop herself in time when she unexpectedly flew into the belly of what she first thought was a giant lizard. But it wasn't.

By the time the puppet's walls closed in around her, she was trapped, and the rubble from the ceiling above cascaded down on top of the wooden wonder. Kankuro grinned triumphantly after watching his prey fly straight into his trap and pumped a fist.

"Nice catch, Salamander," the puppeteer exclaimed.

After the rubble finished raining down on top of the marionette, with no damage to it whatsoever thanks to its iron frill shield, Kankuro then willed the contraption out of the pile of stone and earth surrounding it. The wooden lizard leapt up onto the ledge he was standing on and waddled over, with the puppeteer patting it on the head.

"Kami, I love my puppets!"

"_**H-Hey… what the? Let me out! Let me out!" **_Kamira shouted, the girl beginning to bang her fists against the wooden walls keeping her locked in. Her rapping on the inside of the giant puppet didn't budge it an inch, even though the doors seemed to jerk a bit.

Kankuro smirked. "Sorry babe, but you're stuck in there. The only way you're getting out is if you're carrying a ton of explosives with you."

"_**I'll f%king kill you! When I claw my way out of here, I'm going to kill you!"**_

Kankuro chuckled and leaned in, putting his hand over his ear. "Sorry, could you speak up? I can't hear you!"

Unexpectedly, the girl began punching the interior of the Salamander more ferociously then before, the doors rapping loudly and the trembling a bit. Kankuro jumped when his opponent began pounding relentlessly against her prison, and her screams and curses began spewing out of the cracks.

The Suna Genin furrowed his brow, glaring at the casket as Tayuya dropped down from the walkway to the ledge he was on.

"_**I hate confined spaces! LET ME OUT OF HERE! LET ME OUT, DAMMIT!"**_

"Noisy bitch," Tayuya scowled at the lizard casket with her hands on her hips before looking up at the puppeteer. "You gonna kill her or what?"

"Not yet," Kankuro smirked, taking up his chakra threads again. He commanded Crow to rejoin him on the cliff, albeit with some lipstick on its face, making Tayuya laugh a little.

It dropped down next to Salamander, and with a few tweaks of the teen's fingers, the arms of the spider puppet detached. When they did, Tayuya watched as knives suddenly protruded from the joints as they began to hover around the puppet containing the prisoner. All the while, the grin on the puppeteer widened. "I think I'll scare her a bit."

Kamira continued to yell and kick at her confines without restraint, showing she was nowhere near stopping any time soon. Fed up with all the racket, Kankuro yanked at the chakra threads he had attached along his lizard puppet.

Slots opened along the Salamander, allowing some breathing light in, and sort of calming the trapped girl down. A split second later, the Suna Genin flicked his fingers and the arm blades now hovering over the puppet thrust themselves through the gaps of the armored lizard. The sliding steel that sharply entered the crevices of the marionette did the trick, and the girl was silenced.

Not permanently of course.

Tayuya snickered as Kankuro marched over to the puppet and kicked the side of it, grinning widely.

"Yo! You alright in there?"

Not receiving an answer, the boy unclasped the sealed doors on the Salamander and opened it up. When the two Genin peered inside, they found to their amusement the warrior girl, now no longer in bat form, curled up in the middle of the coffin and shivering. She was mere millimeters from death, with one of the blades hovering right in front of her face. It was a pretty satisfying sight.

The Suna Genin leaned against the Salamander and raised an eyebrow at the warrior.

"So… given up?"

"Y-Yes…" Kamira squeaked.

"Good!" Tayuya exclaimed, reaching in and pulling the girl up, at the same time avoiding the blades.

Yanking the girl out of the coffin by the scruff of her armor, the redhead then dropped her down right next to the Salamander puppet and allowed her to curl up at its legs. Now surrounded by two shinobi and still scared to death from her brush with death, the girl was quite literally scared out of the fight.

The battle was won.

Tayuya crouched down in front of her and smirked. "Why the hell do you serve that guy anyway? Is it because of those stupid stones?"

"M-Master Haido promised us equal shares," Kamira replied shakily, before turning away, still with her arms folded around her chest. "I'm only playing my part, because of what he promised me. He gave me a purpose in life to h-help him accomplish his goals, and I went along with it. I'd do anything he bids of me…"

"So it's true. This whole thing is just a chance for useless scum to grab power," Kankuro stated, shaking his head as he glared down at the girl. "It's the same with every other villain."

"You don't have to work for that guy, you know," Tayuya said, frowning at the girl as the kunoichi looked her over.

"T-Then… what would I have to live for? W-Where would I go? Back to the streets? Beg at people's feet?"

"No…"

"Then what am I supposed to do?" the warrior snapped back, glaring up at the redhead from the corner of her eye. "Just wander about and let my power wither away? I'll die without it!"

Tayuya saw the teen was still shaken up from her ordeal and couldn't really put up much of a fight, aside from throwing aimless curses and statements.

The redhead figured at that point, with her defenses down there was a good chance she could convince this warrior to turn over a new leaf and save them the effort of having to kill her. They didn't want to leave this place completely stained with blood after all.

"Kami, you fucking whine more then Naruto does when I try to put vegetables into his meals. Listen, I'm not going to kill you on the spot as per our customs as shinobi, since you probably don't know that much about us yet, so I'll just give you some food for thought. If you want to be strong, then you use what you already have to _get_ stronger, and use that strength to make your own way through life. For a warrior like you, it should be a fucking breeze. You have all the strength you need. The problem is you use it for all the wrong reasons. There's no need to keep grabbing out for power to fuel your own lust for it, and there's certainly no reason for you to hurt other people to satisfy your master or yourself, otherwise you will become an even bigger, uglier monster then what you are now."

"B-But…"

"It's intoxicating, I know… all that power flowing through your body," Tayuya said, throwing her hair over her shoulder so that the back of her neck was visible. She then showed the girl the pillar of flesh from the side, and flashed the pale scar where the curse mark used to be that she still had. "I should know, because like that _Stone of Gelel _you have buried in your chest, I had something exactly like it before implanted on my neck; a black mark that stained my body and damaged my soul. Sure it gave me immense power, but do you know what I did with it?"

Kamira shook her head, unknowing of her answer.

"I killed people with it… not bad people, innocent people. I killed whole families; women, children, the weak and the defenseless. All because of _that_ mark, the powers it gave me, and the promises made to me, by a person who also desperately craved for more power. He was the kind of person that would do anything and kill anyone to get stronger, and he used people like me, who were left alone in the cold and were shunned from society, to get it for him," Tayuya stated.

With that said, she then threw her hair back around and glared at the girl. All the while, Kankuro watched on from the sidelines, intrigued by what the redhead had to say. "And guess what that man did to me after he had gained all that power; he cut me off. He tossed me aside like I was some useless pawn, like I was just a means to an end to him, all for his own selfish ambitions. He acted like he cared for me and my comrades, but he didn't. It was all a lie."

Kamira stared at her in astonishment. Of course, with her own background and experience, she could have argued that 'Master Haido was different', and 'that he would never do something like that.' However, considering she was still here, at the mercy of the shinobi and that _he_ was nowhere to be seen, she was sort of on a losing end here.

She was overcome by Tayuya's story, and in her gawking state, all she could do was gulp and stare.

"But how… how are you still…?"

"Alive? Well… it was just dumb, fucking luck I suppose," Tayuya scoffed and shook her head, rising to her feet. She then placed her hands on her hips and grinned down at the girl still huddled up against the puppet. "But, if you really want to know what it was, I guess you could say that it was the universe simply giving me a second chance, and that second chance turned out to be that loud, stupid, kind, energetic blonde that you just saw leap down into the bowels of hell to stop that motherfucker of a master of yours from getting stronger and bringing more harm to others."

Kamira was left speechless, as emphasized by her slack-jawed expression. This sight made Tayuya smile even wider.

"There are a lot of things in the past that I've done that I _regret_ and wish that I can take back. Dammit if Kami hasn't made me pay for my mistakes when he nearly took my life," the kunoichi rubbed the back of her head at that statement, and smirked over at Kankuro.

"You got me there. I was almost in the same boat as you," the Suna Sibling smirked back. "Let me guess, he changed your own stubborn views as well, huh?"

"Heh, it doesn't matter now. Fuck my old, pointless life. Because I think I found something worth living for this time, something that has taught me to live for others by choice instead of for myself or for a cold-hearted bastard, and it's that blonde idiot."

"Man, if Naruto could hear you now…" Kankuro chuckled, hands on his hips. "Wait till I tell him…"

Tayuya's smile suddenly turned over into a scowl, and in response she marched up to the teen in a very confronting manner. Her sword flashed out from under the puppeteer's nose, prodding him dangerously.

The Suna Genin was immediately astounded at how fast the girl's draw was, causing him to back off even more.

"If you even dare mention to Naruto anything I've said right now, I swear to Kami that I will cut you! Do you hear me, cocksucker?" Tayuya asked with murderous intent, earning a nervous grin and a headshake from the boy she was threatening.

Sure Kankuro loved to tease, but he drew a fine line at angering girls who were physically more powerful then him and could get into this kind of proximity with him, namely his sister. He swore that if Tayuya ever met with his sister on the battlefield, all kinds of hell would break loose.

"A-Alright… I… I won't tell… I swear…"

"Excuse me," a gruff voice filled the atmosphere, catching the pair's attention. Kankuro and Tayuya looked up towards the behemoth of a tunneling-machine hanging over their heads. When they did, they saw Gaara standing up on the platform, with kids hanging from his shoulders and arms.

The children he was carrying were wearing fine tunics, and looked as though they had been through all kinds of hell. They were almost in the exact same state Kankuro had seen them in on the ship that was beached where they first fought the foreigners. However, they looked a lot better then those that were found dead.

The jinchuriki was staring down at them with his usual stoic expression, yet they could tell from Gaara's posture that he looked pretty impatient.

"I could use some help up here," he murmured, gesturing down to the brood under his arms.

Seeing that the slightly emaciated kids were unconscious and unable to move, Tayuya and Kankuro quickly responded. However, between the kids and their prisoner lying at their feet, they still had to rattle over the idea of what to do, and sort of double-backed before they could move.

"What should we do with her?" Kankuro asked, throwing a hand down at the armored teen in an obvious gesture. "We can't just leave her lying here. She might try to escape…"

"Or attack us," Tayuya frowned down at the person in question, hands on her hips. "If she knows what's good for her, she wouldn't dare…"

"No…"

The voice from the warrior drew the pair's attention down to the armored girl, who slowly began to rise to her feet. Shaking off her fatigue and shock, the auburn haired girl then looked up at the two shinobi in front of her, a disheartened and conceded look on her face. Though it was a bit of a surprise to Kankuro and Tayuya to see her up and about so readily after her battle, both of whom had expected to get another fight out of her the moment she recovered, it came as a bit of a shock to them when they watched her remove the armor guards from her wrists, as well as her battle dress, leg guards, boots, and chest chassis. When she discarded her battle wear, all she was left in was a tunic and figure hugging mesh.

"I… I want to help…"

"Huh?" Kankuro murmured, whereas Tayuya blinked silently in surprise.

"Listen… everything I've done… everything I did to you all, I… I'm sorry," Kamira bowed to them humbly, closing her eyes. "Please let me help you."

"Guh… uhh…umm. W-Wait… wait just a damn second," Kankuro marched up to her and pointed her square in the face when she straightened up. "What's with the sudden change of attitude? Huh? Did you lose a couple of screws when I nearly killed you? What happened to the devils smirk and the 'oh-I-don't-give-a-shit expression'?"

For one thing, Kankuro's descriptions of the woman's previous demeanor had been quite accurate. Minutes before in the midst of their battle, the woman had been a terrifyingly deadly opponent, and even in her normal form she wore the mask of a laid-back warrior, with a cold gaze and was able to drive her opponents crazy with her taunting. However, looking at her now, all that remained was what looked to be a very Shikamaru like shell, replacing her previously sly and conniving grin.

"You were right," Kamira replied back meekly, glancing over at Tayuya who continued to stare at her. "You _are_ right… about everything. This was all just a stupid game to Lord Haido that got people hurt, and absolutely no progress was made to any peaceful goal…" The woman added to this by backing away and removing her gloves.

"I… I just want to forget the _Stone of Gelel_ now… it's stupid, all of this is." Straightening up, she gestured to the cave around them. "All those deaths… for _this_? Sacrificing lives isn't a way to accomplish things. There's nothing peaceful about it. I… I want to make amends…"

Just then, she placed her hand over her left chest, and gently crunched her fingers around the area of her body. Though the ninja found the scene a bit perplexing, they were surprised when they watched her hand sink into her armor and even further, before removing it sharply seconds later. Kamira winced in pain when she yanked her hand out, which was covered in what looked to be tar or some other form of muddy substance. When she extended her hand, she revealed to them another _Stone of Gelel _that had been placed inside of her, as Tayuya had suspected. As soon as it was out of her body, she crushed the stone without hesitation, shattering it into a million pieces. "This time, I do things _my_ way!"

Kamira threw her hand out and smiled over at Tayuya. "You're all so strong… fighting for your friends and companions. You're so strong that you even managed to knock more then mere sense into my head…"

"Umm… correction," Kankuro raised a hand. "I was the one that beat yo-OOF!" He had the wind knocked out of him when Tayuya elbowed him in the side, causing him to stagger away, clutching his new bruise.

After seeing the stone destroyed, and watching the pieces scatter around them, Tayuya smirked up at the teen, and received a warm smile in kind.

"I-Is that okay…?"

"Sure," Tayuya grinned at her and shrugged. "I'm satisfied. Come on!"

With an exchange of nods, Kankuro and Tayuya leapt off towards the giant drill. Kamira attempted to follow, but found that she was unable to at first.

She fell right on over when she tried to transform in pursuit. However, after a quick curse and a head shake, she picked herself back up and followed after under her own strength. Even without the crystal of Gelel in her chest, she was still a peak athlete capable of quite impossible feats, and quickly managed to follow after the two shinobi up onto the platform.

* * *

_**Elsewhere…**_

_**Far below…**_

While everything on the surface was transpiring, deep below the maze of tunnels, tombs and catacombs, Kahiko and Temujin arrived in yet another chamber. However, unlike the ones above, which were worn down by the sands of time and literally holding up on the last of their strength, this one looked almost brand new. It was a dimly lit, rounded room with an arching ceiling, the walls giving off an auburn glow from the light, with wall paintings and carvings decorating almost every corner of the area.

However, it wasn't the paintings that were the most captivating; it was the large symbol in the middle of the room made up of circles and inscriptions that was the most significant piece.

It defined the center point of the space and the ceiling above, and had an off color from the rest of the chamber's details, making it quite noticeable to those who were paying attention. It was almost derivative of an old style of summoning circle placed precariously at that singular point, as its design entailed.

However, unlike Kahiko, whose primary focus was the search for the keystone the moment he stepped off of the pillar lift that had taken him and Temujin down, the white knight was more or less perplexed by his new surroundings then any significant detail of the place.

"What is this place?"

"According to the stories of old, _this_ is the _Chamber of Sealing_," Kahiko murmured, also baffled by the sights around him. "I've never been down here in my life, yet… everything seems so familiar. It's just as the legends say. How strange…" The elder walked further in, taking interest in the paintings around him.

Temujin had also become fascinated by the images, and began circling the outer walls, admiring them. This trail eventually led him to a wall, framed by what should have been a painting as well. But instead, all that stood in its place was a pure black slate of unknown substance. When he placed his hand against it, it just felt like well refined coal.

"Why is this one so different from the others…?"

"The wall paintings you see circling this room chronicle the rise and fall of our great ancestors; the ones who wielded the _Stone of Gelel_ for the betterment of their Empire," Kahiko explained, hands being brought and held behind him as he too approached the black abyss of a wall portrait. "This painting must be the final chapter detailing their failure in distributing its power equally. They got greedy, fought over one another for it, and the Empire was reduced to ruin… to nothing. Because of the stone, all that remained of our once great people vanished into despair."

After feeling the black surface beneath his fingertips some more, Temujin then smiled and leaned in closer.

"Then our search hasn't been in vain after all! It's all here… everything we've hoped it would be!" the boy exclaimed. Kahiko stood bewildered, and pointed at the smirking teen.

"You're telling me you're not horrified by all this, and what that picture entails?" the old man questioned in shock. He then threw his arms out, gesturing towards the rest of the chamber. "Look around you! We're standing on a piece of our history; a piece of knowledge that has been lost from the world for more centuries then we can count! We must learn from the mistakes of our past, and ensure they are never repeated again!"

"Exactly what we're going to achieve…" Temujin whispered.

"There is reason why the _Stone of Gelel_ was sealed away from the surface world by our ancestors; to make sure its power was never used again!" Kahiko stated, stepping forward some more. "The stone will bring nothing but more conflict!"

"That's why we're not going to use it to bring ruin to the world," Temujin stated. "Ordinary people would simply see the stone as a privilege that they will certainly take advantage of. But Master Haido… he will use the stone to unite the people and bring everlasting life to the lands, to show the world that violence is no longer a necessity to people. War, conflict and never-ending sadness will soon join your and my ancestors as nothing more then another painting on this wall."

"I see…" Kahiko frowned, reaching back with his right hand. His movement was marked by a visible bulge on his forearm, which revealed to be a hidden dagger that slid into his grasp and out of its sheath. The weapon's blade flashed in the light as soon as he took it into a stable grip out of sight of the knight's eyes. Of course, with Temujin's back turned and attention set on some distant horizon, this was simply the perfect opportunity for the elder to finish this fight.

"The heart of the mines lays further down, but our journey… ENDS HERE!" Kahiko roared and took up the blade, and swiftly lunged at the boy with a two-handed grip.

Temujin spun around in shock, just in time to see the weapon closing in on his throat. However, his reflexes compelled him to act, and he shouldered the knife when it unexpectedly changed course, before hooking the man across the face with a swift backward motion of his fist. The blow rocked Kahiko from head to toe as it sent the elder flying towards the center of the room, from which he bounced before rolling to a stop, knife still in hand.

"How foolish!" Temujin growled, his composure loosening somewhat. He rounded on the person he had struck lying face down on the stone, a visible cut under the pauldron of his shoulder. The blood from the flesh wound seeped out briefly, before it got sucked back in and clotted. The scab healed seconds later. "Did you seriously think you'd surprise me?"

"No…" Kahiko groaned, rising to his feet. "I suppose I didn't, but I achieved my goal nonetheless." With that said, he flashed the blade of his knife towards the boy, who saw his blood smeared along it. The sight surprised him, but it wouldn't be the first of this hour.

After getting to his feet, the old man paced to the very center of the room where the inscriptions carved into the floor met, all the while, his eyes never left the blonde standing over on the level of floor circling the room. "This room isn't called the _Chamber of Sealing_ for nothing. This floor pattern I'm standing on is an ancient technique used to summon an immeasurable power. It can only be activated by the blood of those of the royal family line, who ruled the Empire that the _Stone of Gelel_ was centered around."

"What?" Temujin blinked; seeing the man's serious expression was unfaltering in his statements. "R-Royal family…?"

"Yes," Kahiko stated. "On your chest, you bear the crest of your clan, a mark given to you only through close proximity with a crystal of Gelel, such as the one buried close to your heart." At these words, Temujin glanced down at his armor and placed a hand over the area the man was referring to. He looked up sharply a second later when he spotted the elder taking the blade he had in two hands, and held it at his chest. "After generations and generations of our clansmen have passed on since the fall of the Empire, finally… a descendant of the royal family has returned. At first I thought that the royal family had been completely wiped out… but now, after seeing you and your seal, my doubts were laid to rest. A direct branch of the royal family must have taken to the seas along with our other ancestors, and lived on in peace for years later."

"Impossible. There's no way I can be a descended of your people…" Temujin stated, stepping forward. "I would know."

"Oh, but you don't," Kahiko stated. "However, the signs are all there. The stone implanted in your chest, granting you everlasting power, life and healing capabilities… only your clan could ever control a crystal of Gelel to such an extent. That and the symbol on your chest is all I need. And now!" The elder raised the knife over his head, prompting Temujin to move forward some.

"Wait! What are you doing?"

"I'm putting an end to this, right now!"

Kahiko thrust down with the blade, intent on impaling the center of the sealing circle.

However, while in mid-swing, an invisible force of energy slammed straight into his grip and knocked the knife free of his hands. The hit knocked the blade far out of reach, which was quickly followed up by a loud clap, and a section of wall on the other side of the room was blown away by an explosion.

Kahiko winced at the hit and staggered back, clutching his wrist to suppress the pain.

Both Temujin and the elder glanced around from where the attack came from, and saw Lord Haido standing atop of the platform used to access the chamber. Flanked by three of his soldiers, the bishop stepped out from the shadows, an ever-present smile on his face.

"We'll have none of that now," the man exclaimed grandly. "Enough theatrics…"

"Master Haido!" Temujin exclaimed, quickly jogging over to his master. After the brief trip across the room, the boy then stood before his mentor, an incredulous look on his face. "H-How did you…?"

"Oh…" The man smiled and removed the glove from his right hand, showing Temujin a black, fingerless glove beneath the one he was wearing. However, what astounded Temujin and to an even greater extent Kahiko, was that there was a _Crystal of Gelel_ attached to the glove. "I was using this…"

"Th-That's…!" Temujin murmured, his eyes locking onto the stone.

"It's just like in the book," Haido chuckled as he walked more out into the opening, marveling at the gem wedged into the back of his hand. While he was strolling out into the open, the armored soldiers that had been flanking him stood back, clubs at the ready for any signs of trouble. "I can blow things away without even touching them!"

The leader of the group added to this statement by pointing his fist in the direction of a random pillar, and after a brief glow from the stone on his hand, a section of the pillar in question suddenly exploded. The invisible blast traveled along a line that was straight, true and accurate.

Kahiko, regaining strength after seeing another stone, stomped forward with a hard glare. "Are you referring to the _Book of Gelel_?"

"I'm sorry?" Haido asked, raising his hand to his ear and smiling mockingly over at the old man. "What was that?"

"How did the book come into your possession?"

The bishop chuckled humorously. "Ahh yes, it's funny actually; I bought it off of a peddler at the side of the road."

"That is utterly ridiculous! I knew there was something strange here!" Kahiko shouted, pointing at the man as he began surveying the room for himself, walking around with his hands in his pockets.

"You came across the book and the stones when you destroyed this boy's village, didn't you?" the elder yelled and pointed over at Temujin, whose eyes widened in shock.

The blonde teen blinked in confusion, hearing this information.

Responding to yet another accusation, Haido chuckled and turned back around, shrugging his shoulders and carelessly looking away.

"What is the cause of all of this doubt? As I've been saying time and again, my only goal in life is to rid this world of war."

"One who truly desired peace would never seek out the _Stone of Gelel_!" Kahiko yelled, once again attracting Temujin's attention.

The teen was looking between both his master and the desperate old man in the middle of the room, his thoughts being plagued by images of a shadowy figure from his past. Memories and ideals clashed inside of his head, yet he was still able to keep a clear strain of thought as to what was going on around him.

"All I desire is the ability to put an end to war," Haido nodded, before glancing around again. "Now, where would the entrance to the heart of the mines be?"

"I can tell how black your heart is just by looking in your eyes!"

Haido paid his yells little mind, and simply continued searching the place for the key that would lead him further into the caves, where he knew the Vein of Gelel was hidden. The sounds of shifting stones could be heard out of the corner of his eye and wheeling around, the man in the priestly robes saw a small pillar made of marble resembling a control panel, jut up from the ground at the far side of the room.

The moment he saw it rise from the floor, he eagerly approached it, and began marveling the new addition to the chamber. "Ah! This must be it; the key that grants me access to the _Vein of Gelel_!"

"NO! DON'T TOUCH IT! THAT ISN'T MEANT FOR YOU!"

Just then, a small shadow darted out from behind Kahiko. It zigzagged across the floor before leaping up at Haido, snarling. The Lord looked up sharply, his glasses flashing. The moment his head moved, the little creature was suddenly blown back by a flash of green light, as if it had hit a barrier dividing it from its target.

The attacking animal was revealed to be Nerugui, the little ferret flying back through the air and hitting the ground hard after its brush with the energy barrier.

The sight caused Temujin's eyes to widen, watching the animal quite literally roll over and cease breathing altogether.

His master killing a small animal that startled him? Immediately, the blonde saw that his leader was stepping further out of character, further away from the humble man he had come to know, one who wouldn't harm a little creature like Nerugui.

Moreover, along with these unsavory sights he was witnessing from the sidelines, the boy's mind continued playing back images of a dark, hooded man. He remembered the figure all to well, even years later and only from glancing at the murderer from his hiding place in the ruins of his destroyed home. These vaguely similar events transpiring around him were bringing up memories from a past he wanted to forget.

It was as if he was witnessing it all over again.

His refuge behind that collapsed wall when he was younger had barely kept him safe and unseen from the raider, and he clenched his eyes shut in an effort to shake out the images.

"_W-What is all this?"_ Temujin cursed under his breath. _"Dammit…"_

Kahiko approached his dearest friend; the mammal no longer moving after taking whatever it was that hit him. The sight of the ferret curled up on the ground caused the elder to tear up, and he swooped down to caress the little animal in his arms.

"Nerugui…" The elder cried as he held the ferret, sniffing as he gently tried to shake some life back into him. After several unsuccessful attempts, Kahiko gritted his teeth angrily and glared up at the man responsible for killing his friend. "You… YOU!"

"Oh dear… the poor thing," Haido smirked, letting out a sigh. "Yet another noble sacrifice I suppose…" He then shrugged and raised his hand towards the elder. "Oh… and… _another_…"

There was a sharp hum and a flash of light from the stone on the bishop's hand, and a split second later, another invisible blast shot through the air and hit Kahiko squarely in the shoulder. The caravan leader let out a yell of agony as he was mercilessly cut down, the seemingly dead Nerugui still held in his arms as he rolled along the ground. About a second later, the blast hit the wall at the back of the room directly behind Kahiko, the section of stone exploding.

Temujin blinked in shock.

Okay. That was completely uncalled for.

Events violently shook the teen back into the world, and after watching Kahiko get knocked down by the attack, the boy looked over at his master, who chuckled in amusement.

"My, my, my… I can't control my power very well yet," Haido spoke, analyzing the stone on his hand again. With a second shrug of his shoulders, he then pointed it back at his target as the old man was struggling back to his feet. "Well… anyway…"

Another flash of light and another attack unleashed.

The invisible blast shot towards the elder, intent on killing him.

However, just before it could hit its target, the blade of a sword unexpectedly found its way in between the two individuals.

The invisible energy attack was effectively dispelled after being stopped by the weapon's steel, and due to the Gelel energy already coursing through it, didn't destroy the sword. Kahiko looked up in surprise, where he saw Temujin standing over him, his short blade drawn at his defense.

The sight also had Haido look on, incredibly perplexed by the boy's actions.

"What do you think you are doing, Temujin?"

The teen immediately dropped to his knees, and bowed apologetically to his mentor. "Forgive me, master. But… the mines of Gelel are already in our grasp. There's no need for any more sacrifices to be ma-"

"That's not what I meant," Haido quickly cut in, drawing the teen's attention to him.

"M-Master…?"

Haido frowned upon him. "Don't stand in the way of my target!"

Temujin blinked in astonishment, having not expected his master to say such a thing. His mind once again became filled with signs of conflict and confusion.

"B-But… Master Haido…"

"You heard me boy, step aside," the bishop replied, raising his hand and pointing it at the elder behind his apprentice. "If I don't eliminate the old fool right now, he will continue to interfere." The stone on his glove began to glow again, as it charged for another attack.

However, instead of moving, Temujin just knelt where he was, looking up at the man who had brought him up and taught him everything he knew about war and peace.

In his mind, the young knight's beliefs were being overshadowed by this new character coming from his teacher, an unknown side where killing went beyond the scope of mere sacrifice and necessary loss. Glancing back, he considered the state of Kahiko, and the ferret he clutched to his chest.

Neither of them could cause them any real harm. They had no strength to stand up against them, nothing to hide, or nothing to gain from. So what was this sudden need to have them eliminated?

The blonde looked back, seeing the man he idolized becoming incredibly impatient.

"Well?"

The hooded man flashed through his mind again, and Temujin shook his head. The memories visibly caused him great grief and pain, but he did his best to shake them off. Those events from his past were something from long ago, something he vowed never to have happen again. If Haido was close to crossing that line into that world of _**that**_ man, then Temujin was going to stop it.

The boy gritted his teeth and glared down at the floor.

"No…"

"Excuse me?"

"I will not be like him, or let anyone else become like him. I cannot," Temujin stated, rising to his feet and looking up at his master. "Please… Master Haido, I beg you to stop. There is no need to kill anymore. Our quest for the _Stone of Gelel_ has ended, so please… let us finally create that utopia you have dreamt of for all those years, where there are no wars, or fighting, or killing."

This statement only seemed to add more to the bishop's impatience. "Are you defying me, boy?"

"N-No… it's just…"

"Hmph, if that's the case, Temujin," Haido frowned. "You're just another thorn in my side. Tsk… too weak to go through with the simplest order you are given…"

"M-Master… please…"

"You're just another inferior individual intent on getting in my way… no different from your _**parents**_…!"

This had Temujin look up in bewilderment.

Glancing up at his mentor's face, he suddenly saw a wide, uncharacteristic grin of a sinister nature cross the man's lips. His face became overshadowed by a dark aura, one completely beside his previous one.

The sight had the young teen's memories come back at him full force, as he compared the dark individual from his hidden past to his master. The two forms seeped together, into a twisted monster…

"You really are a pathetic little brat," Haido chuckled, his words mirroring those in Temujin's mind.

The boy stepped back, his face becoming overcome with an expression of fear and disbelief.

"But… that's… impossible," the young knight murmured, his body shaking slightly, with his armor rattling as well under his slowly diving gallantry in the face of the figure from his nightmares. "Master Haido… you're… _**him**_?"

The priest chuckled, his snickers quickly turning into full blown laughter. He roared out maniacally in amusement, before stepping down from the walkway, away from the control panel to the mines. Cracking his neck, the bishop grinned at his apprentice, seeing him back away more and more, shaking his head.

"That's right! It was me!" Haido exclaimed, his voice suddenly becoming more gruff and tainted, as his true persona rose to the surface, and his 'humble and caring' mask was stripped away. "You are just a wretched waste of skin! Such blindness. Latching onto the very man who murdered your parents!" the man spat, earning shocked looks from both Temujin and Kahiko, both of them further slinking away from the man as he walked towards them.

"What an adorable little pawn you are," Haido grinned, pointing his Gelel hand towards the teen and unleashing a second energy attack. The blast struck Temujin's sword as he raised it to defend himself, and was effortlessly knocked out of his grasp.

Before the fear struck knight could make any move to retrieve his weapon, the man from his nightmares seemingly disappeared into thin air, before reappearing right in front of him and grabbing him by the throat.

Throttled, the white knight was raised from the ground. Haido brought him up to eye level with his left hand, as the boy desperately clawed at the man's wrist to release him. His struggles only resulted in the Lord grinning up at him in amusement, his green eyes flashing red as he slowly began to evolve.

"M-Mas-ter… Hai-do…" Temujin choked out, tears brimming at his eyes.

"It looks like that brat Naruto and his friends were right all along; I really am just in it for the stones… nothing more. Really… why do you have to fear war or anyone else when you're the most powerful being on the planet?" Haido sneered, seeing Temujin's terrified gaze locked onto him. This brought an even bigger smile to the man's face as he shrugged his shoulders. "Although, in part you were of… _some_… use to me. However, now that I know where the stones are, I hardly need you anymore, now do I?"

Haido brought his right hand up into a fist and grinned, cranking it back as the stone on his glove began glowing brightly. The overwhelming sight showed that he was ready to deliver the killing blow, and with the way Temujin struggled against Haido's vice like hold over him, there was no way he could stop the inevitable hit.

"Say hello to your parents for me, Temujin," Haido exclaimed.

With that, he struck…

…at the exact same time another person did.

Haido's vision suddenly became clouded with red as a sharp pain hit him across the neck. His final attack sharply veered off course and he opened his mouth in a gasp, but all that came out was blood. Gargling and choking on a yell of agony, the man released Temujin from his grip and staggered away.

Before the teen could hit the floor, he was suddenly tackled out of the air and brought down to ground zero by another individual. Arms supporting him, the teen dropped to his knees and coughed, gasping in air after having it cut off for those few minutes.

The bishop yelled out in agony as he clutched his throat, feeling around the side of his neck for the cause of the problem.

It didn't take him long to discover it, as his digits landed on what he felt was a kunai buried deep in his neck. The blade pierced his pillar of flesh holding his head up, right through to the other side, effectively cutting into his wind pipe. However, after staggering around, spewing blood from his mouth and the new holes in his neck which he tried to clot with his hands, the bishop wheeled around and glared angrily at the person responsible.

When he did, he saw the familiar sight of Naruto, kneeling beside a stunned Temujin, helping him to recover with his arm around him in a defensive manner. Kahiko also sat beside him, still holding onto Nerugui and looking on in astonishment.

"Y-You… stupid… little…" Haido spat.

"Yet again, I'm going to have to take another page out of Tayuya-chan's book for this one," Naruto stated, rising to his feet and throwing the length of his windbreaker back as it unfurled itself. He then passionately pointed a finger at the old, power-hungry codger and gritted his teeth angrily.

"Here it goes… FUCK YOU!"

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	14. The Death and Rebirth

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_The Death and Rebirth_

"Where is the little hole… that these _**pests**_ are… crawling out from?" Haido snarled, blood still pouring profusely from his mouth, even though his teeth were gritted shut.

The wound he had and was continually inflicted with thanks to the kunai still buried deep in the side of his neck was intended to kill him, and by all accounts, it should have, but for reasons unknown, he was still standing. Forget that, he was still breathing, in spite of it blocking off his air passage. However, even with blood pouring out of three different holes and his head nearing asphyxiation thanks to the lack of oxygen he should be having, the man was still staggering around, hands clamped around the injury.

The bishop spat to the side as he glared at the newly arrived Naruto, the spiky haired blonde proving to be more troublesome then he could have asked for.

"You're all just worthless trash…"

"Here it comes… the _insults_," Naruto sighed, lowering his arm from his pointing. "You know, people like you really piss me off. Utopia? Peace? Salvation? A world without war? All of that preaching, all of those promises, and then you pull off this crap!" The blonde gestured down at Kahiko and the ferret he was clutching in his arms. In spite of his caring embrace, the old man still couldn't get any life out of him. "You may be the first one I've ever met to have taken your ambitions this far. Well it all ends here for you, you creep!"

Haido chuckled loudly at Naruto's statement, straightening up as he felt life and energy begin flowing back into him. Though the three conscious members of the audience were incredibly surprised that he had managed to last this long, what were a few more minutes of life going to change? He should keel over eventually.

A pool of blood about a meter in diameter lay at the man's feet. How could they be wrong?

"It appears I'll need to deal with this problem before I can move on to the mines," Haido replied.

With his free hand, he grabbed the ring at the handle-end of the kunai, and with a careless pull, yanked it clean out of his neck. Naruto blinked in surprise when he tossed the blade away, and watched as the stone of Gelel in his hand suddenly began to glow a bright green. Moments later, the two holes in the man's neck closed up and the blood that had been drained from his body got sucked back in through the closing wounds. Within mere seconds, the injuries he had sustained were gone, leaving him in his former, untouched state, with an ever-present smirk on his face.

"By the end of today, the entire world will have fallen to its knees before me!" Haido exclaimed, clenching his Gelel fist and raising it to his chest. "Starting with you."

The stone then started to glow even brighter, engulfing its wielder in a warm aura. As it did, Haido's robes and cape began to flutter on a violent wind. Bit by bit it was ripped away, leaving him in a pair of black spandex pants and his boots, along with his bishop's hat. What Naruto expected to see was the body of an old man beneath the clothes that were torn away. However, he got an incredibly big shock when he saw the man's body covered in what looked to be dark cartilage plating, his muscles accentuated by these elements, as if his skin was made of leather. In addition to these sudden changes taking place, the stone continued to reveal more of the man's bewitching physical features, his hat being ripped apart as his hair grew out and his face morphing into a more sinister one. It grayed just like the rest of his body, fangs grew from his now canine like teeth, and his eyes became red and animalistic.

Seconds later, his transformation completed itself when the four red orbs he had used before to access the lower mines reappeared, and hovered suspended around his back.

"_**Ahh… that's better,"**_ Haido grinned, sighing in satisfaction at having his real form unveiled to the world for the first time in years. Lowering his Gelel arm to his side, he clenched his fists tightly so that his knuckles cracked and his brow furrowed further into its glare, which remained locked onto the blonde and his cohorts. _**"Now… about that stab to my neck…"**_

"Dude… _that_ is messed up," Naruto exclaimed, glancing down at Temujin who was looking up at his former mentor with equal astonishment. "Hey, did you know that he could do that or that he looked like a burnt steak under those robes?"

"N-No…" the wounded knight coughed.

"Hmph, great," Naruto looked upon his new opponent with a tight scowl. "Now I've got a few more wondrous things I have to find out."

"N-Naruto," Kahiko spoke up, turning towards the boy with a desperate expression on his face. The Genin also glanced over at elderly man, seeing the look of uncertainty and fear etched across his face. "You must find a way to stop him, before he becomes too powerful."

"Right," Naruto nodded, sounding confident. Despite this though, he was unable to hide his wandering thoughts from himself. _"But how do I stop him… that's the question?"_

"_**Go ahead… attack me!"**_ Haido taunted, raising his arms out and offering a free hit to the young shinobi, who in turn took a solid stance and prepared for combat. _**"Let's see what you can do, boy!"**_

"Alright then…" Naruto replied, reaching back into his pouch and grabbing a few shuriken between his fingers.

If this was how it began, than Naruto was going to probe his opponent for weaknesses before going all out.

With a sharp yell, the blonde tossed a swift barrage at the man, the shuriken cutting through the air in multiple directions as they made their way towards their target.

In response to the opening attack, just as the shuriken were within reach, the four orbs hovering over Haido's back suddenly morphed and stretched. The devices seemingly liquefied and arced around the man's body, shielding the front of him and solidifying just in time to block the onslaught of shuriken, which bounced off of the barrier as if it were made of steel. The shield then suddenly twisted and morphed again, forming into an almost spiral mass hovering around its master, before flinging itself at Naruto at high speed, like an elastic band of goop.

Naruto reacted quickly, grabbing both Temujin and Kahiko and leaping out of the way just in time to avoid the tendril as it slammed into the ground, cracking the stone surface. The blonde took both bystanders to the edge of the chamber and after setting them down beside one of the support beams, immediately turned back to the bishop, who was still standing right where he was with his arms folded and a smug look on his face. The black strips he had used to attack returned to their host, and reformed into red orbs again.

"That's cheating! He's totally copying Gaara," Naruto stated, reaching back into his pouch and fumbling for another weapon.

"_**With the power of Gelel, I can manipulate matter and transform it into whatever I want,"**_ Haido stated, cracking his neck to the side. _**"I doubt you'll even be able to touch me! No opponent of mine has!"**_

"First time for everything!" Naruto replied, throwing his arm out and tossing four kunai at the man. The knives shot through the air faster then the shuriken and along a straight and noble path.

But then, like before, the projectiles were once again blocked by the black material, which formed a thin shield in front of its host to protect him. However, the knives were just the mules carrying the payload, and as they were spinning through the air, unraveled the paper bombs wrapped around the handles. Haido was caught off guard when the tags detonated around him, engulfing him in flames and hot blasts of smoke.

"_**Argh! What the…?" **_the man cursed, feeling his flesh scolded and seeing his material shield in front of him crack under the shockwaves. _**"You damn brat!"**_

As the cloud of smoke blanketed the man, Naruto made his move. The boy sprinted into the cloud and leapt at the grey fiend standing in the middle.

The blonde jabbed out hard, only for his attack to unexpectedly be blocked by a green energy barrier in place of the damaged matter strips that had defended the bishop beforehand. Haido glared at the ninja, who glared back with equal ferocity through the transparent wall of energy, before the blonde kicked off and leapt over the cult leader. Performing an acrobatic flip in his jump, Naruto landed behind his opponent at a reasonable distance and charged at him from behind, aiming to take him out from a blind spot.

However, upon throwing his punch, the jinchuriki was once again stopped by the barrier. His attack rebounded as if he were hitting rubber, causing no damage to the target whatsoever. Again and again Naruto attempted to get at his target, only for his attacks to recoil continuously. The only affect this had on Haido was annoyance, as well as amusement after several more futile attempts made by the youngster.

After running laps around the man for a minute or so, trying to land a hit and failing miserably, Naruto started to get ticked off.

"_**Ha! Had enough!"**_

The Genin growled and leapt away from Haido, skidding to a stop several meters behind the bishop and crouching low to the ground, attempting to assess the situation from a safe distance. In the meantime, Haido remained where he was, waiting patiently for the boy's next assault.

"_Those shields are preventing me from landing a hit! Is he that concerned that he can't fight me directly?" _Naruto furrowed his brow. _"I'm going to have to be smart about this, and try and coax him into close quarters. Maybe then I'll have a chance."_

"So… you want the _Stone of Gelel_, yet you're too much of a coward to win it in a fair fight, Haido?" Naruto smirked, rising to his feet. It wasn't his style to mock opponents into battle… well… not to this extent, but if Neji and Sasuke could irritate people to the point that they couldn't fight at their fullest against either of them, then who says Naruto couldn't.

Take it as inspiration from years of receiving abuse.

Remarkably, this statement got him some attention and Haido glared over his shoulder at the loudmouthed youngster.

"_**What was that?"**_

Naruto grinned and gestured for the man to "bring it", gesturing at the bewildered fiend.

"You're a war lord aren't yah?" the jinchuriki grinned. "How long has it been then, since you've faced a lowly warrior without hiding behind your ill-gotten powers?"

Haido furrowed his brow at the boy, seeing him smirk back arrogantly. After a few moments of trading killing intent, the bishop grinned and spun around, unfolding his arms.

"_**Hmph. What a lame attempt to taunt me into direct combat!" **_Haido snickered. _**"But if you wish for me to exercise more physical force, then I'll be happy to oblige." **_The man added to this by lacing his fingers together and stretching his hands with his palms facing forward. The sound of bones and muscles popping echoed throughout the chamber. _**"Don't disappoint me, brat!"**_

Naruto smirked. "Come on!"

Haido suddenly flickered out of sight and reappeared in front of Naruto, his agility doubling somewhat from before. The blonde blinked in surprise at the man's shocking speed, and ducked just in time to avoid his jab. Quickly responding, Naruto slipped under his initial attack and slammed his own fist into the man's face, the blow rocking the bishop's body and causing him to stagger back.

Receiving the hit, the leader gritted his teeth and glared down at the sneering blonde through a bloody nose, having not expected such an immediate counter from him. Nevertheless, this did not deter him and immediately after taking the hit Haido responded with a hook across Naruto's face, the blow sending the boy flying across the room and into another support pillar, burying him inside the stone and behind a cloud of dust and debris.

When the dust cleared, it revealed Naruto sprawled out in a small crater against the wall, shaking off the hit with a bleeding nose, a bruised face and a black eye. The jinchuriki smirked at the man, whom he saw marching towards him with a grin plastered on his face.

"That sure got the blood flowing," Naruto chuckled, spitting out blood before pulling himself out of the wall. Ignoring the dust and granite on his clothes, he began approaching his opponent as well. "Could you throw me another? Sorry about that, I just wanted to see how hard you could _actually_ hit."

Haido frowned and stopped in his tracks.

Naruto nodded, taking this momentary relapse as his chance. Using strength and speed he had been practicing with for months, he also flickered out of sight and appeared directly behind his opponent, kunai drawn. The boy lunged, his expression showing the extreme effort he was exerting with his intent.

However, just as his attack was inches away from his target, he was once again thrown off when the energy shield shot up again, and his attack rebounded, kunai flying out of his hand and landing some distance away.

After crashing and rolling, Naruto hopped back to his feet in a crouched position, and glared at the mad bishop who was now grinning over his shoulder at the frustrated jinchuriki behind him.

"_Stupid, fucking shield!" _Naruto cursed. _"I've got to get past it!"_

Haido laughed and spun around, throwing his Gelel arm up with the stone he was bearing flashing a bright green. _**"Disappear into oblivion!"**_ The invisible blast to follow rippled outwards with an enormous amount of power backing it up. It tore its way across the ground straight towards its target, who responded immediately to the threat.

Grabbing the tail of his trench coat, Naruto brought it in front of him and covered the whole of his body where he was kneeling. The attack struck his makeshift, fabric shield, and though the force kicked like a mule against him, the brunt of the attack was effectively blocked thanks to the density of the nano threading. The only damage it sustained was a few gashes along the coat.

Feeling the attack dissipate, Naruto unfurled himself and in that same instant threw a kunai at his target. Remarkably, the swift projectile got passed the energy barrier thanks to the stone renewing itself after unleashing its last blast. With a cable tied to the ring of the flying knife, the weapon caught itself around Haido's Gelel arm as he was withdrawing it, causing the villain to blink in surprise.

"Got yah!" Naruto exclaimed, pulling his bayonet out of its scabbard and slicing the metal wire he had attached to the kunai. He then pulled out what looked like an explosive note from his trench coat pocket. "You're not the only one with tricks up his sleeve!" He wrapped the note around his end of the cable, and a high voltage charge of electricity shot down the wire from where he had attached the stun tag.

The electricity reached Haido in no less then a nanosecond, the man getting the shock of his life as he was electrocuted into submission. He yelled out in agony, his body being engulfed in blue lightning and was deep-fried from the inside-out, before collapsing to his knees as soon as the currents subsided.

Naruto got up and rushed the man while he was down, interlocking his fingers and sending a hammer blow upwards and across the man's face.

The hit connected, and Naruto spent the next minute laying it into the man, landing various punches and kicks with the full force of his body behind it. Every blow staggered Haido back further and further, till he was pressed up against the back wall of the room.

"_The electricity upset his control over his Stone of Gelel, meaning it's working harder to recharge and heal him at the same time. This means he can't produce any shields or retaliate effectively,"_ Naruto grinned as he sent punches and hooks across the man's face when he slumped against the stone barrier behind him. Seeing blood fly from the madman's mouth, the blonde smirked. _"Finally, I'm getting somewhere…"_

Temujin and Kahiko watched on in astonishment as Naruto laid it into the man-beast, determined to bring him down. With every swing, Haido fell lower and lower, unable to maintain his stance or hold himself up.

"W-Where… does he get all of his strength from?" Temujin stammered.

"_**You… (oof) worthless… little (gah)… dammit!" **_Haido was unable to finish his insult as he was thrown up against the support pillar again, and had his stomach caved in by a series of punches from the jinchuriki, who cranked back his right fist at the end of the swift combination, and hooked it across his target's face. The series of blows brought Haido back down to his knees, with the bishop bleeding profusely from his face. _**"W-When I… get my… hands on y-you…"**_

"What's the problem? You can take it, can't you big guy?" Naruto grinned as he watched Haido heave on the ground and gasp for breath. Though it wasn't his style to kick guys when they were down, this man has been asking for it for a long time. When he saw the leader look back up, the Genin continued. "Of course you can. And because you can take it, this is the perfect opportunity for me to completely cut loose, and show you just how powerful I really am!"

Seeing Haido grit his teeth, Naruto sent a knee up into his chin and threw him back up against the pillar behind him.

"_**Damn… you… GAH!" **_Naruto grabbed him by the head and slammed it against the pillar behind it.

Cranking his fist back, the blonde began laying it into the man with reckless abandon. He yelled with each hit, emphasizing the effort he was putting behind his fist.

Though he wasn't as skilled or as fast as other shinobi like Neji, Lee or Sasuke, Naruto was certainly strong enough and durable enough to give and receive hits. A single hit from him would rattle an opponent to the core. So after months of getting his speed up to scratch, every hit Naruto was actually landing on his current opponent was running him down fast and hard.

Upon finishing his combination of punches, and after dealing a great deal of damage to the pillar as a result of Haido's beating, which was now crumbling to the point of collapse, Naruto stepped back and smirked.

He watched the man bleed it out.

"Had enough?"

"_**No…"**_

Naruto prepared for another punch.

Unexpectedly, Haido found a renewed wave of vigor and with a primal roar the older warrior threw both his hands up and took Naruto swiftly by the neck. Throttling the young shinobi, he held the jinchuriki several feet above the ground, with the blonde fighting back against the stranglehold by throwing a few kicks into Haido's mid-section. The man grunted the blows away and with an enraged yell he threw Naruto straight into the stone floor, putting his full bodyweight on top of the boy as he drove him into the rock hard surface.

The impact punched a crater into the ground that spread out over several feet.

"_**ENOUGH! I'm going to kill you now, you miserable little punk!" **_Haido bellowed. His bruised, bleeding and disfigured face slowly started to reshape into what it had been before; the _Stone of Gelel_ lodged in his hand finally getting to work at fixing its host up at an accelerated rate.

Naruto gagged through his blocked off windpipe, and he thumped at the man's wrists with his palms, trying to remove the hands clamping around his neck. But tried as he did, his opponent had a grip like a vice.

"Naruto!" Kahiko shouted, witnessing the tides turning.

Temujin attempted to get to his feet, body shaking as he tried to find energy to get back up. Unfortunately, the proximity Haido's stone had to his had nullified his own power. As a result, he was having trouble finding that spark to get jumpstarted. His body was too weak.

But Temujin wasn't going to just keel over uselessly.

If Naruto was fighting for his life, then there was no sense in waiting on the sidelines anymore. He had made a vow to bring peace any way he could.

If there was any starting line for that, then _this_ was it.

"_**Well? Come on! Throw me a clever retort!" **_Haido exclaimed, glaring the boy right in the eyes as he continued to struggle. He cackled maniacally when he heard Naruto's choked response, prompting him to strangle the boy harder against the cracked floor. _**"The Stone of Gelel's power is flowing through my body! Your strength is nothing compared to mine! You're finished!"**_

"…gargh…ave…to…" Naruto coughed out.

Haido raised an eyebrow and leaned in further, seeing Naruto glare back up at him.

"_**What did you say?"**_

He loosened his grip so he could hear his victim.

"I've… got… _one_… _**too**_…" Naruto chuckled through his suppressed vocal cords and grinned at the fiend holding him down. Pulling his right hand out of his pocket directly beneath Haido's torso, the Genin unveiled the _Stone of Gelel_ _**he**_ had in his possession, which he had taken from Ranke's gravesite.

There was a flash of light and a loud hum, and Haido was unexpectedly rocketed into the air by a blast of energy from the gem in Naruto's hand. The man yelled out in shock and agony as he was thrust skyward, seconds before being slammed full-on into the ceiling. He imprinted the stone surface, which crumbled away moments later when the stream of wind stopped.

The Genin who had launched the man into the roof above had just seconds to get up and jump out of the way when the ceiling caved in on top of the plummeting Haido. The bishop was buried under a ton of rubble immediately after his up-and-down trip had ended.

Following his hasty retreat Naruto stood back up and rubbed his aching throat, catching his breath while briefly glancing down at the glowing stone in his grip. Panting, he shook his head and slipped it back into his pocket.

"What a stupid way to fight," the blonde murmured and cracked his neck, looking back up at the pile of rubble in front of him. "I should have just kept hitting him."

In a way he was right.

But fights could change hands either way.

Just when he was beginning to think his enemy had finally rolled over for good, there was an abrupt, violent rumble and a second later the pile of rubble and stones several meters in front of the blonde exploded into the air. The burst of debris was brief and when the dust cleared moments later it revealed a staggered Haido covered in wounds.

His arms were visibly mangled, as well as his right leg, and the entire front of his body had become charred from the friction and proximity of the energy blast that had flung him skywards. The monster of a warrior grinned madly as he glared in Naruto's direction, with the jinchuriki looking at him in astonishment. Temujin and Kahiko were doing the same.

"_**Well… that certainly **__stings__** a bit," **_Haido chuckled ecstatically, his body unexpectedly becoming flooded by a green aura, which seemed to seep in from the walls around him. His flesh wounds quickly began to heal themselves along with his broken limbs, which snapped back into place.

The huge burn mark across his chest and torso also healed, sinking away as the cells accelerated the skin's recovery.

"_**My wounds…. THEY'RE HEALING! HAHAHA! SO MUCH POWER!"**_

Straightening up and stretching out under the sickly glow, the fanatic leader then grinned over at Naruto excitedly.

"_**How exhilarating! I hope you're planning to take me on seriously this time, you brat!"**_

"How the hell is he healing so quickly?" Naruto murmured, watching the aura fade from around Haido.

It was phenomenal. Not even _he_ could heal that quickly, and he was a God-damn energy machine. It didn't make any sense. Even with Temujin's one stone in his chest, it took the teen a full day and night to heal from injuries that were less serious then the ones Haido had sustained. So how was his broken body healing so rapidly?

"Unless…"

A second of careful thought later and the blonde then turned his head up towards the ceiling. His fears were confirmed as soon as he traced the source of the mysterious green glow.

"No way… _that's_…"

The result from sending Haido into the ceiling had caused a whole section of it to collapse, leaving a gaping hole at the very top of the room, and revealing another, larger chamber beyond the area they were currently in. When Kahiko and Temujin eventually turned their attention to the hole above them as well, they saw a series of stalactites hanging beyond the threshold. Shining a brilliant green and adding radiance to the dank catacombs, it was a sight that all three witnesses present were all too familiar with and was something that had Naruto curse his luck.

"That's…"

"The _Vein of Gelel_," Temujin spoke up in an incredulous tone of voice. "It's not below us… it's around us! We're in the very heart of the mines!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and glared back at Haido, who straightened himself up and readied himself for another round.

"_**Now, let's continue where we left off." **_Haido's grin widened. _**"The Stone of Gelel will continually make me stronger every time I'm defeated, and will heal every injury I have sustained. This means you can't win, boy. I won't let you beat me a second time."**_

Naruto furrowed his brow and clenched his fists tightly. "I'll just have to try even harder then."

Haido scoffed. _**"By all means, try…"**_

The blonde crouched and charged, throwing a cluster of shuriken. The grey man grinned when he saw the barrage and batted them aside with his arm, the weapons bouncing off of him before he charged in kind. His body flickered just as Naruto's did and they met in the center. Both combatants threw a focused jab straight at their opponent's face, only for their fists to collide and generate a small shockwave from the force outputted.

The bishop grinned, despite his blocked attack, and thrust his forehead down at Naruto's face, slamming it dead center between the eyes. The blow staggered the blonde who stumbled back, only to have his collar grabbed and a hook sent across his face before he was lifted off of his feet again by his opponent's free arm.

However, not letting Haido take advantage of his smaller stature this time, the spiky haired shinobi quickly recovered and sprung back with a counter. Throwing his legs up, he wrapped them around the man's arm, and with a twist, toppled the man.

Haido fell flat over thanks to Naruto's hold over him and when he hit the ground, it split. He tried pulling his left arm free of the boy, but the blonde bit and held. With a yell, the ninja attempted to rip the man's arm out of its socket, but before he could even get to that stage the bishop held his Gelel hand out and in a flash of light, sent Naruto hurling through the air, taking the full force of the attack in the chest.

The quick spin and flight was followed up by a hard landing. After which Naruto rolled onto all fours with use of his momentum, and glared angrily over at his opponent, to see him back on his feet.

Haido laughed out loud and threw his Gelel arm forward, his stone flashing again, indicating another attack. The Genin acted quickly at the incoming blast and leapt out of the way, with the ground exploding where the invisible energy wave struck.

Haido continued his pursuit of his target, firing one blast after another, trying to hit him as the boy ran a full ring around him, before the jinchuriki skidded to a stop at the edge of the chamber. Making his mark and taking swift aim the leader fired a charged shot, which curved through the air and visibly broke the sound barrier.

The Genin responded instantaneously.

Back on his own two feet, Naruto held his hand up and threw it straight down at his feet, pellets detonating around him and clouding his body from view. The blast cut through the cloud of smoke and parted it, with the shinobi no longer in sight when the attack struck the wall.

"_**What?" **_Haido looked around, attempting to find the boy.

However, just as he was beginning his search, the ground at his feet unexpectedly split open, and a Naruto _Shadow Clone_ sprang up from underneath and slammed his fist straight into the man's chin in a swift uppercut. The blow knocked Haido into the air, blood spraying upwards from a broken jaw.

Following up the surprise attack, more _Shadow Clones_ burst up from under ground, grabbing their floating opponent by the arms and legs and slamming him into the floor, pinning him.

As soon as he was down, the real Naruto dropped down from the ceiling and, bayonet in hand, attempted to drive it into the man's head. However, while he was in mid-descent, Haido kicked back into action.

With a roar of anger, he unleashed a green wave of energy from his whole body, which formed a protective dome around him as it expanded, and blasted all five Narutos in all directions. The clones dispelled, while the real one was sent flying to the other side of the chamber, where he slammed into one of the walls.

Shaken from the shockwave and impact, Naruto dropped to the floor on all fours and coughed up blood. At the same time, he felt several of his bones give way from the stress already exerted on his body.

"Shit… not good!" the blonde growled, glaring up.

His injuries and lapse in time was clearly evident to all audiences.

As a result of his sluggishness, Naruto had glanced up just in time to see Haido leap back to his feet and flicker out of sight, before reappearing right in front of the jinchuriki and punching him in the face. Naruto was thrown up against the wall from the blow, before being grabbed by the throat and held up against it. Haido grinned.

"_**Enough playing around. It's time to end this little game," **_Haido stated, his fingers enclosing some more around Naruto's neck and beginning to suffocate him like before. _**"After I've killed you, I'm going to kill everyone else…"**_

"Screw… you…" Naruto gasped, before a punch slammed into his gut, cutting him off.

The cult leader followed up with a few more, slamming hits into the boy's stomach and drawing more blood from his lips, which splattered across his face. It was after a couple more, well placed hits did Naruto get fed up with being a punching bag, and he slammed his hand into his adversary's face.

Growling in frustration, Haido shoved it away, only to find a piece of paper blocking his eyes.

As soon as he had slapped the paper bomb over his opponent's eyes and it ignited, Naruto formed a quick hand seal and pressed his right palm against the forearm of the man holding him up.

"_Jihatsu Ryuushi Nenshou!" (Spontaneous Particle Combustion)_

In the blink of an eye, Haido's arm up to his shoulder exploded in a cloud of steam, the shreds of its remains flying everywhere. The man wailed in agony at having his limb taken off and stumbled back, clutching his stump of a left arm. Naruto took this chance to drop back down to the ground and dive right between his opponent's legs.

A split second later, the paper bomb slapped over the man's eyes exploded. The blast engulfed the target completely and nearly brought down the entire section of the room on top of Haido.

The young jinchuriki managed to clear the area just in time, back-flipping away and skidding to halt right in front of Temujin and Kahiko. They all looked up to see the cloud of black smoke fill the area, and rubble from the damaged ceiling above collapse on top of whatever was left of the insane warlord.

Naruto panted and dropped to the ground, clutching his side where his broken ribs were. He grinned triumphantly.

"This time… I got you good!" the blonde glanced over at Temujin, who was still gawking at the explosion. "I doubt even he can get up after that one."

"_**Heh… is that the best you can do?"**_

Naruto, Temujin and Kahiko's eyes widened, and all three of them looked over at the smoke clearing up. They watched as the silhouette of Haido marched out of the cloud, clearing it in time to reveal his left arm begin to reassemble from particles out of the air, and his scorched, heavily disfigured face reform back into what it was.

The leader laughed out loud as he felt his arm grow back and stretched it out, the green glow of the mines feeding him more and more power. With his energy restored and his new limb tested, he then glared at his opponents now gaping at him from the sidelines.

"That's… not possible," Naruto stammered.

"He's tapping further into the mines' power," Kahiko said, grabbing Naruto by the sleeve and tugging at it to get his attention. "As long as he has that stone in his hand, he can't be beaten!"

"_**That's right! And while I'm enjoying this little dance of ours, I unfortunately have a schedule to keep. The world can't hand itself over on its own, after all!" **_Haido shouted, raising his right hand and pointing the stone at the three of them. _**"Let me deliver you to your utopia!"**_

A loud hum followed by a flash of light occurred, and large beam of energy was sent hurling at the three individuals. Naruto raised his bayonet to block the incoming attack, whereas Temujin rose to his feet, preparing to meet the blast head to head. However, just as they were ready to take it, a shadow jumped in their way and took the full force of the attack. A blast of wind and another flash filled the room as the blast detonated, Naruto, Temujin and Kahiko shielding their eyes.

When the light faded and the three of them looked back, they saw to their astonishment the three armored drones that had accompanied Haido down into the chambers standing in the way of the attack. Their arms and legs were spread out, ensuring that the whole attack was taken in the back, and they stared down at the three people that they had managed to save.

Haido was bewildered.

"_**What's this?"**_

Naruto and Temujin looked over the armors, seeing smoke rising off of their shoulders from taking the attacks meant for them. While they stared, the two teens could swear that they saw the spirits of people rising from the hulking, stoic warriors that had saved their lives.

Not _just_ people… children… three children from the three armored soldiers.

Temujin watched on intently with tears forming in his eyes. The spirits of the children smiled at him and waved, moments before fading away with the smoke lifting into the air.

"M-My friends…" the young knight sniffed. "W-What… have I done…?" he wept, running the back of his hand over his eyes to clear his vision. At that moment, the now soulless suits of armor collapsed to the ground, spent from their final effort.

Their weapons also fell to the ground, clanging loudly on impact.

"_Temujin's friends… those children," _Naruto blinked; also feeling incredibly overwhelmed at what he had just seen. _"They're the boys and girls locked away inside of those spheres on those ships. Their life energy was used to create these soldiers. They sacrificed themselves and everything they had for this dream of theirs… sacrificed more then I can ever imagine." _Naruto's fists clenched and he glared angrily over at the man responsible for this whole thing.

The bishop was standing over at the other end of the room with a smug smile on his face.

"You bastard!"

"_**Foolish children. I told them not to interfere. But…I guess they're at **__that__** age," **_Haido exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders and raising his Gelel arm again. _**"Well… no matter; I'll take care of you myself then!"**_

"Temujin!" Naruto shouted at the knight who was back on his feet. "Let's get this guy. I can't fight him by myself anymore."

"B-But… what are you going to do?" the teen asked, staggering over to his comrade. "His stone's power negates mine if I get too close… and he keeps getting stronger every time you beat him…"

"I know that! All we have to do is take out that stone on his hand!" the Genin stated, glaring at the bishop to see Haido raise his right hand up towards the ceiling. Once again, green energy began flowing down from the mines around them through the hole in the roof, which engulfed the wielder of the stone and began charging his next attack. "He intends to kill all three of us in one move! If you can stall him, I'll take him out!"

"Right," Temujin nodded, reaching down and picking up the sword dropped by the soldier that had defended him.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted, holding up his bayonet. The boy pumped chakra right through the blade, which extended to the length of katana thanks to the reach of his wind element.

Dropping into a stance, the blonde broke into a run, charging at his target with Temujin close behind.

"_**Let's put an end to this!" **_Haido roared, finished gathering the amount of energy he needed and lowering his arm to level with the two boys rushing him. _**"Time for you to join your ancestors!"**_ There was a blast of wind and a green mass of energy suddenly gushed out of his stone in the form of a colossal wall of liquid wind, which charged its targets down.

The radius of the blast engulfed the entire area in front of Naruto and Temujin, and seemingly disintegrated them when it swallowed the pair up. However, Naruto was once again looking up in surprise when he saw Temujin leap in front of him, and take the full brunt of the attack.

Holding his sword up in defense, with his own wind energy cutting straight through the waves hammering away at them, the white knight took point.

With a primal yell, the armored teen sprinted straight through the attack and dispelled it, despite the amount of energy Haido put behind his final blast.

The leader grinned as he watched both Temujin and Naruto close the distance on him to about twenty meters from the previous forty, and in an unexpected move, once again summoned the matter from the red orbs hovering over his back.

Two black tendrils shot out from behind the cult leader and arced through the air towards his targets along straight lines, aiming to spear the both of them.

While Temujin blocked the first with his sword and destroyed it, the second one streaked passed him and struck Naruto in the shoulder, knocking the boy off balance and causing him to stagger.

The white knight looked back when he heard the shout of pain from his companion.

"NARUTO?"

"I'm fine!" the Genin shouted back above the pain, nearly losing his bayonet from the collision of his shoulder and the spear; ultimately slowing down to a stumble in his run. "Just get him!"

Although Naruto dropped back thanks to the clear hit and was left kneeling on the floor, Temujin nodded in understanding and rushed on. Taking his sword up in a two handed grip, the white knight roared and lunged at Haido, and began lashing viciously out at his target with wide swings of his sword.

The bishop gritted his teeth in frustration and backed away, avoiding the attacks from the weapon as best he could.

His apprentice was strong, almost as strong as Naruto, and was versed enough to get in close with incredible speed. It completely caught the man off guard.

Then, after several near misses made by his strikes, Temujin landed a clean one in the end, which carved a nice gash across his target's chest and almost split him open. Blood gushed out at the depth the weapon made into its foe, but ultimately missed the vital organs.

Temujin grinned at the success of his hit and while Haido was stumbling back in shock, the boy moved in again with his sword held back, and prepared to drive it across in one, final blow.

"_Your friends are the most important things __**anyone**__ can have!"_

"…_and __sacrificing your friends isn't a way to accomplish anything!"_

Naruto's voice echoed through Temujin's head as he drew back to deliver his last swing.

"_It's just like you said, Naruto!" _the teen thought, gritting his teeth and, with his full strength put behind his sword, struck up at his former mentor from the left with the intention of ending the monster's life once and for all.

"_Sacrificing your friends, the most important people in the world to you, is __**no**__ way to accomplish your dreams!"_

With a loud holler, Temujin followed through and struck.

Haido however, unable to dodge in time, sacrificed his right arm to take the blow. The massive claymore wielded by the white knight struck the crystal on his palm and, instead of cleaving his body in two, shattered the stone.

In spite of the heavy hit, it didn't completely destroy the rock, leaving small pieces still attached to the glove.

The leader became enraged at the loss of his primary weapon, and after seeing his Gelel crystal destroyed, sent a punch across Temujin's face.

"_**ENOUGH!" **_the man roared, sending his former apprentice flying off to the side of the chamber so that he could focus on the other child rushing at him. _**"I don't need the stone's power to kill you! I'LL CRUSH YOU WITH MY OWN, BARE HANDS!"**_

Using whatever power he still had from the shards of the stone in his glove, Haido launched another series of tendrils at the recovered Naruto, who had resumed his attack on the cult leader. The strips of matter shot through the air in the form of elongated spears from their host, systematically running their target down.

Using his wind sheathed bayonet, Naruto sliced out at the incoming strips one after the other, slicing them to pieces and effectively warding off the assault. He zigzagged left and right to avoid the backlash, all the while cutting away more attacks before leaping through the air and diving down at Haido.

The angered man roared and sent another barrage of tendrils up at his agile target as the boy descended upon him, only to have those strips swiftly chopped to pieces as well. Within mere seconds, the Genin was within range and ready to finish his attack with a clean decapitation.

But then, at the last millisecond, Naruto figured a simple decapitation was too good for the likes of him.

So, when Haido aimed to grab the boy in midflight before his opponent could reach him, Naruto unexpectedly disappeared in a puff of white smoke. The _Shadow Clone_ ended its existence before it even made it to the spotlight.

Shocked, Haido averted his attention downwards just in time to see the real Naruto flicker into view directly inside his defensive circle, right in front of him.

In Naruto's right hand, a tiny blue Rasengan the size of a marble hovered above his palm, shining brightly.

The jinchuriki smirked, cranking it back and slamming it straight into his opponent's chest.

"TAIKYOKU RASENGAN!"

The moment the small orb of wind made contact, the leader was immediately engulfed in a hurricane of raging winds and cyclonic forces. Without the slightest signs of holding back, Naruto grounded his most deadly attack into the man's pectoral, directly over his heart.

Haido grinned down at the boy as Naruto drove home, the jinchuriki struggling to hold his attack in place.

"_**Stupid boy! That's not going to work on me!"**_

Naruto gritted his teeth and pushed forward some more, feeling the chakra begin to expand at a dangerous rate and engulf his own hand. Haido felt it soon enough as well, and his smugness dropped.

"_**WHAT? No! NOOOOOO!"**_

The tiny _Rasengan_ in Naruto's palm exploded in size, funneling into a tornado horizontal to the ground and engulfing Haido completely. The center of the attack began drilling straight through into the target's body, cracking bones and splitting muscles. It continued to do so, before it ultimately began cutting away at his entire body, starting from the surface of the impact point and then around it.

The high winds and the velocity of the rotating mass of energy ripped the body to pieces, disintegrating it.

Naruto let out a tremendous yell as he unleashed the full fury of the attack, which not only destroyed Haido, but also ripped up the ground, the ceiling and the support pillars around him. The remnants of Haido's _Crystal of Gelel_, which were barely wedged onto his hand to begin with, were all but lost in the raging hell storm.

That hell storm quickly turned into a plasma zone that turned his whole body into dust.

Seconds later, the Genin holding onto the technique quickly released it and staggered back when the attack's shockwave blasted outwards, and the winds died down.

Stumbling backwards several paces and falling to his knees, Naruto dropped the bayonet in his left hand and clutched his right hand.

Looking down at his palm, he saw that the entire surface of his hand was burnt. This indicated to him that he had held onto the attack for too long when the high speed, rotation and density of his _Rasengan_ had transformed into plasma, resulting in his hand becoming partially roasted.

Panting for breath and trembling from the insane amount of stress made to his body, the young Genin could only smile and look up. From where he had collapsed, he was able to make out the definitive results of his newly formed Rasengan.

"_Dammit if it's powerful enough to toast my own hand. I might actually be able to make something out of it…"_ Naruto thought, before letting out a laugh as he saw the entire wall and floor surface before him just collapse on itself, revealing the _Mines of Gelel_ beyond the barriers of the room around them.

Naruto was able to get an even bigger picture of how immense the heart of the mines was. A massive stalactite stood as the center directly over the chamber they were in, dropping down from a beautiful, crystalline formation of Gelel rock high above, fanned out into a flower. Though he wasn't a geologist, unable to even tell the difference between the values of minerals, the Genin estimated the amount of Gelel stone above him to be enough to share between all of the Five Shinobi Nations and then some.

However, with it being the core of the mines and it being suspended so high above made Naruto wonder how anyone could possibly get to it. Even though his main intention was to destroy it, he still had to think of a way of how he could go about it.

But then he remembered Temujin was still with him.

Picking himself up off of the ground with his hand smoldering, Naruto staggered his way over to Temujin, who had also managed to pull himself back to his feet from the blow he received.

Although not as damaged as they looked, Naruto was completely drained whereas his foreign counterpart was already getting steam back into his system following his flash bout with Haido.

When they both confronted each other in the center of the destroyed room, instead of sharing looks of hostility or killing intent with one other, they both just simply glared, as if all trust in their few seconds of partnership had all gone away.

That was until Naruto smirked and held his good hand out to the battered knight, intent on making good instead of slitting his throat.

The taller teen looked at the hand extended towards him suspiciously for a moment. But then, after a few seconds of contemplation, grasped it firmly and shook hands with his new comrade, with smiles framing both their faces.

"If you ever need to get some sense smacked back into yah, drop me a line sometime," Naruto grinned.

"I'll be sure to reference you in my curriculum vitae once I begin searching for a new occupation," Temujin replied. They relinquished each other's arms and looked around the room. All of the chamber's splendor and glamour had vanished with the fight, leaving only cracked paintings, damaged support pillars and a ruined floor. "My journey is over… Master Haido is gone… and now I'm alone again."

"That's not necessarily true," Naruto smiled, giving him the thumbs up. "Gaara and the others should be helping your friends out of those things in that giant tower on the surface. If all goes well, they should be fine…"

"R-Really?"

"Yup!" the Genin nodded firmly.

Relieved at this news, Temujin then turned his attention to Kahiko. Walking over to the elderly man he helped him up, taking the man's arm over his shoulder so that he could stand.

"I hope you can forgive me for all that I have done to you," Temujin murmured, stepping back as the elder stretched out. The teen then turned his attention to Nerugui, who was lying motionless on the floor at his feet. The knight swooped down and gathered the little ferret up in his arms, and after straightening up caressed the animal. "I wish there was a way for me to atone for my misdeeds."

"That's quite alright lad," Kahiko stated, looking up at the boy with a small smile. "We were all pawns in this… nothing a small act of redemption can fix…"

Temujin frowned as he looked upon the ferret, holding its head up a little. Despite his efforts to bring the once proud, energetic animal around, he could not wake the mammal from his deep slumber.

"Maybe _this_ can help," Naruto spoke up from the sidelines, pulling his _Stone of Gelel_ out of his pocket and showing it to the pair. "It may have been a relic used for the worst of intentions, but I believe it can still do us some good."

Temujin and Kahiko looked at the crystal in surprise, before the white knight smiled up at Naruto. "It's worth a shot."

Taking that as the word go, Naruto approached.

However, miracles came hand in hand with life at the most unexpected of moments.

Before the young Genin could perform any form of 'ritual' or 'resurrection' with the gem in his hand, and just as he was raising it above Nerugui's head, the little ferret decided all on its own that it was tired of being dead.

Its eyes flew open and with a cheerful chirp, it hopped out of Temujin's grasp and clambered up onto his shoulder. Purring happily, the mammal nuzzled the boy's cheek affectionately. The young knight jumped in surprise at the sudden revival of the little animal, and looked at him with wide eyes.

Naruto blinked, and analyzed the stone he was holding.

"Damn. That was fast…"

"I… don't think your stone was responsible for this," Temujin smiled softly and gently petted the critter on the head. "There's something about this little guy that I just can't fathom."

Naruto chuckled and looked over at Kahiko, expecting to see a similar look of joy on his face. However, when the young Genin turned to face him, he became a little bit perplexed when he saw that the elder was quite close to genuinely crying his eyes out.

The old man stood to the side beside Temujin, watching his favorite little companion cuddle up to the teen. "Nerugui…" Kahiko moaned, before face-falling and looking at the ground, slumped over. "Such a betrayal…"

Naruto saw that the old man was upset, and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

After Nerugui's startling recovery and determining that Haido was definitely dead and buried, Temujin then focused on the other matter at hand. All three of them were here for a reason, and that reason just happened to be hanging on the walls all around them.

The chamber was crumbling away bit by bit, so it was best to salvage what they could now before the issue of the stone's continued existence sunk in. Hence, the blonde knight turned his attention towards the control panel that had sprouted up at the other side of the room.

Walking up to it and picking his sword up off of the ground along the way, Temujin planted himself in front of the marble pillar, with Nerugui sitting comfortably on his shoulders as witness. Naruto and Kahiko approached the panel as well, the elder relieved that it hadn't been damaged or destroyed in the battle. The results would have been catastrophic for all of them if it had been.

Since it was still here, they had a chance to set things right.

"Hey old man…" Temujin spoke up, glancing over his shoulder at the elder standing behind him. "Back in that cave, you mentioned that only the royal family could completely control the stones and the mines, and that they had the choice of whether or not to completely destroy the stone's source, correct?"

Kahiko responded to the question with an immediate nod. "It is within their right, as they were the first to discover the stone beneath the earth and unlock its secrets."

"Then…" Satisfied with that answer, the white knight turned back to the panel and raised his hand towards it. "It is understandable that _I_ should be the one to end it all and rid this world of the _Stone of Gelel_."

"It's what's best for the world, lad," Kahiko stated.

Temujin furrowed his brow and brought his palm down upon the surface of the mine's controls.

However, just as his hand came to hover inches from it, ready to follow through with his intentions, he stopped. Naruto noticed his hesitance in his movements and walked around to see what was happening. When the jinchuriki looked upon the knight's face, Naruto saw that his companion's expression was filled with deep doubt and reluctance. Temujin refused to make contact with the panel, with his slightly trembling arm indicating that some form of inner conflict was preventing him from going through with his statement.

"What's up?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing… it's just that… my whole life, I've been training and working incredibly hard, searching for these very mines, for this very stone, in order to acquire its vast powers to bring peace to the world and create a utopia," Temujin frowned, not in frustration or anger, but in confusion.

"But… the goals that I have been striving towards, they were all for Lord Haido… who really only wanted the stone's power for himself. That means… all that hard work… everything I have done in my life for that dream, was all for a lie."

"It wasn't all for a lie," Naruto interrupted, earning him Temujin's attention. The blonde stepped up and gestured towards the control panel. "You had a good dream… no… not _good_… a _great_ dream, and you worked incredibly hard to try and accomplish it even if it was for some big, fat façade. You had your heart set on the right path."

"But… it's like you said! It was all just…"

"The only problem is that you went about accomplishing your dream the wrong way," Naruto explained. "Your heart may have been set on the right path, but it wasn't set in the right place to begin with. You started down a road to something noble, except that along the way, it caused a lot of harm to others. That's the main problem. If you want to achieve your dream of creating a utopia, you have to create it through your own strength and in order to accomplish that, you have to do it the right way and make the right choices."

"…" Temujin blinked, lowering his hand and turning towards the jinchuriki, who continued to speak.

"You're still torn between choosing to follow the path set to you by Haido and the path of continuing on a different route towards your goal, mainly because the former seems like an easier solution," Naruto said, looking up at the hole in the ceiling towards the stones hanging high above them. "But think about what has happened and what you have done to get here. Kahiko said the stone brought about great hardships to those who used its power unjustly and selfishly, but at the same time it gave life to the lands and healed the sick. It's really all set in concrete as to what you can accomplish with such power."

"But how will I know if I will be able to accomplish my dreams without the stone?" Temujin asked, voicing his concern and fear of his coming decision. "I'm just one person! How can I do this on my own? How will I know what is the right choice?"

Naruto chuckled and looked over at him. "You don't have to carry this dream on your own. Don't forget, you still have your friends…"

This statement made Temujin stop and think for a moment. The time of silence that passed gave him plenty to contemplate on what Naruto had said. In addition to this, while the boy's gaze fell to the ground, the Genin beside him stepped up to him and nudged him in the shoulder, a grin plastered on the jinchuriki's face.

"Look, I'm not saying this to convince you to destroy the stones," Naruto stated, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm saying this to convince you not to give up on yourself or your dreams. After all, a dream can be something magnificent and something beautiful. Though it may be hard at times going about making that dream a reality, you will always have your friends to help you along. They are there to support you, just like you are there to support them when they are in need." The blonde raised his hand and patted him on the pauldron. "This dream is your dream now, and it is _your_ life. You do what you think is right."

Kahiko frowned and tugged on Naruto's sleeve, now that the other teen's attention was again firmly fixated on a distant horizon. "Naruto, you're supposed to convince him to destroy the mines, not give him the choice to succumb to its power," the elder whispered. The Genin smirked and folded his arms.

"Well… unlike other peoples' hearts, I know that Temujin's' isn't weak," the young ninja stated in a hushed voice. "He's much stronger than anyone I've ever fought before, and has a strong heart. That fact alone gives me more then enough confidence in him to know that he will make the right choice."

Temujin stared at the panel laid before him for a minute and more, his mind a rage with thoughts and images. During the time of silence that passed in which he mulled over the information in his head, he composited everything he had learned and was taught into believing, into an answer that he believed would be beneficial for the world, and would allow him to continue on with his journey.

A minute later, things became clear to him, and he looked up with a resolute look on his face.

The young knight closed his eyes and placed his hand on the tablet.

The control panel lit up and hummed into life…

* * *

_**Sometime later…**_

_**On a cliff side overlooking the valleys…**_

Naruto and Tayuya watched on from afar, alongside Temujin, Kahiko, Kamira, Gaara and Kankuro as the landscapes above the mine began imploding and expanding simultaneously. Huge slabs and plates of earth shifted and moved with the trembling mountain ranges, emphasized by the loud rumblings of the _Stone of Gelel_ erupting far below the surface. Despite the earthquake like levels generated by the titanic plates of moving stones, the audience was able to brace themselves enough to watch another astonishing event take place right before their very eyes.

As if the creator himself was scooping up soil from the continent's surface, the ninja and their companions watched as an enormous, mountain sized chunk of stone and mineral began floating up into the air. It split the earth as it escaped its confines, the mass-less, colossal structure crumbling away as it began to float higher and higher into the sky.

With the chunks of earth that fell away, the floating monument revealed its secrets beneath its mask to be the _Vein of Gelel_ itself. The entire source of the stone that had caused so many hardships in the past literally ripped its way towards the surface and at Temujin's will, began to float skywards without any signs of stopping.

Naruto and the others watched on in awe as it drifted higher up into the clouds and further beyond, parting the white masses of gas enough to show the group where it was going. It kept on ascending till it became but a spec in the sky. Within minutes though, the _Mountain of Gelel_ disappeared up into space, where it would then float away into the oblivion, never to be seen or heard from again.

Naruto chuckled and placed his hands on his hips after witnessing the _Gelel Vein's_ departure, before grinning at Tayuya standing beside him.

"Boy. You don't see _that_ everyday, huh?" the blonde exclaimed.

"Only if you're high, shithead," Tayuya grinned back. "But for something like _this_; surround sound and charming company, dammit, the world is a much better place now that this whole utopia crap is over!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say it's over?" Naruto laughed, earning a puzzled look from his traveling companion. The Genin then looked over at the knight who still had his gaze averted towards the heavens with a smile stretched across his normally stoic face. "Right, Temujin?"

"Not by a long a shot," Temujin stated and glanced over at his friend. "I have you to thank for that."

"Don't mention it," Naruto thumped the teen in the shoulder.

The Genin then turned so that his back was facing the grand chasm left behind in the wake of the _Gelel Vein's _exodus from the earth. He did so at the very moment that he completely missed another amazing occurrence. The outer walls of the kilometer wide crater caved in from left to right, giving way to other matter as the huge canyon suddenly begin to fill with oceans of water from underground rivers held back by the previous cave formations. Waves crashed against the mountain ranges amidst the huge gap in the ground, till it was completely filled up, leaving small islands of canyon bobbing on the newly formed surface of the lake.

Ignoring the awed murmurs made by the other onlookers, Naruto decided to focus attention on the patients they had picked up; the groups of kids that Gaara and the others had rescued from the tower, which was now beached at the bottom of the cliff against some slabs of earth further down the cliff.

All of the children that they had rescued were covered in blankets, and even though they looked a whole lot better then when they first looked when released from their prisons, they were all still unconscious. Naruto, Tayuya and Temujin soon had their eyes set on them, with relieved smiles on their faces.

"They'll be out for a bit," Temujin stated, looking over at the two shinobi beside him. Gaara and Kankuro also joined the conversing trio, and after assuming watchful stances at their sides, began surveying the children carefully. Kahiko meanwhile, remained overlooking the valley alongside Kamira, with Nerugui standing in between them. All of them were captivated by the newly created surroundings.

"But once they awake, we will restart our journey together," Temujin said, giving Naruto a thoughtful gaze. "That is, if they choose to…"

"They'll want to, don't worry," the jinchuriki grinned back confidently.

"I don't think they'll like our countries too much. It's dangerous over here, what with the ongoing stand-off between the five great shinobi nations, the cultural shifts, power in villages constantly changing hands, and big-ass mountains made up of eradiated green rocks flying randomly up into space, which by the way, will probably come back down somewhere in the next fucking decade or so," Tayuya commented.

"_Language_, Tay-chan," her companion replied, trying to nudge common courtesy back into her, as befitting the mood in the atmosphere. Kankuro couldn't help but chuckle, whereas Gaara spared the cursing girl a subtly raised eye-brow of curiosity in regards to her shockingly free use of speech.

"Riiiight! Manners. Of course, _Naruto-sama_. No swearing," the redhead graciously replied in an exaggerated tone, rolling her eyes in response. She couldn't help but smile nonetheless. "Still, we're all gonna _fucking_ die by giant, _fucking_ green meteorite." Naruto let out a laugh, whereas Temujin shook his head at her neatly composited 'prophecy'.

"Good joke," Naruto chuckled. "Really lightens the mood."

"But it's true. Did you see that thing?" Tayuya asked incredulously, pointing skywards. "It was bigger then your village's _Monument Mountain_!"

"If it happens, it happens," Naruto murmured.

Before they could carry on anymore, there was a tug on Naruto's pant legging, which drew his attention to ground floor. Tail floating happily behind her and her big eyes staring up at him, the Genin saw Luka stride out of the shadows and into the space between him and Tayuya. The small fox took a moment to nibble on the side of the jinchuriki's sandal, before hopping over to her other playmate and being swept up in the redhead's arms.

"I was wondering where you disappeared to, Luka," Tayuya exclaimed, patting the fox on the head, earning a happy 'yip' from her. "Don't run off like that again."

Naruto was also delighted to see Luka alive and well, and while Temujin, the two shinobi, Kahiko and Kamira became reacquainted with the furry red animal, Kankuro and Gaara stood off to the side with puzzled looks on their faces.

"When did Naruto get a pet fox?" Kankuro asked.

"I'm not sure…" Gaara blinked with his expression stoic and voice monotone as usual.

It was a sign that all was right with the world.

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_


	15. Expanding One's Horizons

**NARUTO**

**Melody of the Wanderers**

_Expanding One's Horizons_

_**The very next day…**_

_**Neutral Port inside of the Land of Wind…**_

The ocean waves gently rocked against the shores of the _Land of Wind_'s coastline, accompanied by the sounds of seagulls cawing away and the scuffle on the deck onboard the last Dreadnaught of Haido's former fleet, now converted into a large steam freighter. Occupied by the surviving entourage pulled free from their confines of the power stations of the vessel, the children and young teenagers prepared themselves for a long voyage ahead back to their homelands. Docking cranes and animals hauling goods helped load fresh supplies onto the vessel by the crate load, with the former prisoners helping out on the various deck levels to move stuff around and secure any material down.

It was quite a commotion. At the dock alongside the mighty vessel, Kahiko and his fellow clansmen mounted on their ostriches and rhinos, alongside Kankuro, Gaara and Tayuya, stood by overseeing the procedures. The young men and women the joint shinobi group had managed to save from Haido's moving fortress, waved goodbye to their newfound friends as the last of the goods were winched up and stored away. Kahiko, Kankuro and Tayuya returned the waves with their own, and marveled at the spectacular teamwork all of them were displaying.

After all, they had all been bonded through great hardships and trials, experiences that have turned each of them into the closest of friends and companions. You couldn't ask for finer clay.

And from the very top of the vessel beside the main loading hoist, Temujin and Kamira stood watch as supervisors. Apparently the two of them had decided to return to their homelands, with the white knight taking up role as leader of the clan and Haido's former guard becoming the young teen's support.

She was particularly enjoying the prospect of being more involved in work, as she helped with a lot of the luggage and barked out orders as first mate. Her change from enemy to ally had had quite a profound effect on her.

"Make sure those barrels are secured good and tight!" the woman exclaimed, lowering her clipboard and pointing over towards the next set of goods being rolled into the storage area by three fit teenagers capable of hauling it. "I also want the vegetables in cold storage! Remember, the pickles and eggs stay separated!"

Kankuro chuckled and folded his arms as the last of the passengers safely boarded the vessel. "It's a shame they're all leaving. That was some grand adventure we all had."

"Yeah. Heh, now that you've pointed it out… it was pretty damn good trip," Tayuya grinned, hands on her hips. "I hope they can make a difference where they're going. I'd love to see all of them again someday."

"Well… what can you do?" Kahiko exclaimed, smiling down at the young redhead standing beside the ostrich he was riding on. "This is the path they've chosen and it's the path Temujin has decided they should take."

"But why doesn't he stay? That I don't understand," Emina murmured, watching Temujin commune with his friends crowding on the deck after finishing their tasks.

"Our destinies split apart a long time ago," Kahiko explained, looking back up at the mighty ship, hearing its horn blare and steam begin to wisp from the five funnels. "His soul isn't tied to this land. His home lies elsewhere, beyond the horizon of our great seas."

"Well… it's going to be tough settling in, that's for sure," Tayuya stated, rubbing the back of her head. Luka yipped in agreement and nodded her head from her perch atop of the kunoichi's shoulder.

"At least he won't be alone. He said that this time, for sure, he wants to create a world without war with the help of his friends," Kahiko stated.

While the group watched the vessel make its final preparations and checks for departure, the elder of the traveling caravan suddenly became distracted by something else and began rummaging about in his pockets. It took him but a moment to find what he was looking for, eventually pulling out one of the crystals of Gelel they had happened across. The aqua colored gem gleamed in the light of the sun as he looked down at it curiously, with the shinobi beside him also glancing up at it.

Kankuro shrugged as he blinked at the stone. "Will he be alright without it? Temujin I mean…"

It took some moments of deliberation, but Kahiko nodded with a smile. He then handed it down to Tayuya who took it with the utmost care. "If Naruto believes in him, then so shall I. After all, true power comes from the heart and the hearts of those willing to carry the weight of it with you. He made that perfectly clear when he took it out of his chest himself."

Tayuya looked at the stone a couple of times, holding it up to the sun.

No matter how many times she could look at a gem like it, there was no doubt in her mind that it was absolutely gorgeous. However, she quickly became bored with it anyway and mercilessly crushed it in her bare hand. The crystal fractured into hundreds of pieces, which she then sprinkled like sand all over the floor and onto the air. Its energy flecks carried off on the wind, disappearing into the far oblivion. Gaara watched the larger remains mix in with the cobblestone pavement, which Tayuya simply crushed under foot and stared out over the ocean without a care.

Said crusher then looked up to meet the relieved expressions of a beaming Kahiko and Emina.

"Sorry… it must have been really delicate," the redhead chuckled and flexed her hand. "I guess I'm much stronger than I realize."

"That's quite alright, child," Kahiko smiled. "I probably would have lost it anyway. No sense in carrying around such a heavy burden." The elder chuckled and held up the _Book of Gelel_, which he had acquired from the base of the roaming tower moments before the group took a safe standing distance away from it and watched the entire landscape crumble before them. "Memories can only last for so long. Some of them are better off staying with those who understand our clan's struggles and history the most. But tales like this one… they must be shared with others."

"What do you plan to do with the book then?" Kankuro asked, looking at the raggedy, dusty old text from ancient history.

The elder shrugged and ran his hand over its surface when he laid it to rest atop of his saddle.

"Kids these days enjoy a good fairy tale. That's all this _Gelel Legend_ is now," the caravan leader grinned. He then let out a bit of a laugh and looked over at the inquisitive group of youngsters. "Of course, now that I have a few more exciting chapters to add to our clans' chronicles, maybe I can publish it as a number one seller? What do you think?"

Tayuya snickered. "Yeah, and if they decide to make a movie out of it I bet they'll get Koyuki Kazahana to play _my_ character. Man. I'd love to see that!" Kankuro, Kahiko and Emina laughed along with her, finding the idea to be quite a giggle as well, whereas Gaara just continued to stare at the giant vessel parked before them.

As the commotion at the port and on the ship began reaching its end, a new thought suddenly started crossing everybody's minds, which had Kankuro and Gaara look around. The Suna Ninja then turned to Tayuya, who was still smiling up at the white ship undergoing its final boarding procedures and headcount.

"Hey, Tayuya," Kankuro spoke, drawing the girl's attention to him. "Do you know where Naruto went? I don't see him around anywhere."

The redhead, being brought about to this realization also shrugged and looked around suspiciously, quickly becoming flustered at the absence of her traveling companion.

"That bum," the former Sound girl huffed, puffing her cheeks out indignantly. "He's gonna miss out on Temujin's departure. What's he doing… jerking off in some corner?"

Of course, while this comment received some rather poor feedback from Kankuro and Emina, the kunoichi was suddenly interrupted from her rant when she saw a mop of spiky, blonde hair pass right on by her carrying a huge backpack over his shoulders with camping equipment and a secondary traveling pack at his side.

All friends and allies huddled in the group with the exception of Gaara jumped in surprise when they saw that it was Naruto himself nudging his way passed them with a huge smile on his face while adding a casual wave over his shoulder.

"So long guys! I'm going on vacation!" the young ninja exclaimed, readjusting his heavy luggage. When his foot landed on the bridge leading up to the ship, he stopped and turned to face the band of locals. What he got from them was a series of stunned and bewildered expressions, followed by a bark from Luka sitting astride on his friend's shoulder.

The jinchuriki chuckled and nodded Tayuya over. "Come on, Tay-chan. We're gonna miss our boat!"

"W-W-W-What!" the girl shouted stepping forward. She looked between herself and the people standing behind her several times, before throwing a questionable gesture towards the countryside behind her. "N-N … NARUTO! Where the hell do you think you're going? I thought… you… I…"

"Look, if you don't wanna come all you have to do is say so," Naruto shrugged, taking a few steps further up the ramp. The smile on his face told everyone what his true intentions were and that he _wasn't_ backing down from them. "But I'm getting on this boat, whether you like it or not. It's not every day a shinobi gets to hop on a gigantic ship, leave the _Land of Fire_ and go off to explore some other continent. I want to get out there! I want to see the world! What about you?"

He flashed her one of his famous grins, to which she responded with a deadpanned expression.

"A-A-Are you serious?" Tayuya stammered. She shook her head and glared hard at him. "You're not pulling my leg? Are you really getting on that boat?"

"Dead serious," Naruto turned back around, marching further up the gangway. So far, nobody was trying to stop him, not even his friends from Suna. "How can I pass off an opportunity like this? The whole reason I left Konoha was so that I could travel, get stronger and learn new stuff so that when I got back, I would know that I would be ready for anything. I mean… what's the alternative? Staying here and doing some odd jobs every now and again, being stuck in the same loop and being held back? Heh. No way… I'm going to Temujin's homeland."

After that glance back, he turned completely around and marched on.

Getting about a third of the way along, the blonde turned around to see Tayuya still staring desperately at him, while the rest of the folk he had come to know and respect waited on the sidelines. He grinned slyly down at his traveling companion, seeing her still struggling with his proposition, the prospects of getting on the ship or staying in the country.

Naruto had to restrain himself from laughing. It was just too good.

"Well… Tay-chan…?" the jinchuriki murmured loud enough for her to hear, egging her on to a decision.

Tayuya hopped on the spot a few times, like an anxious child trying to find the bathroom. She looked between the Suna Nin and Naruto a few times, trying to find a mediator or something to help her out. Her actions didn't help Luka in the slightest, the fox nearly being shaken off of her shoulder as a result of her dance.

But then, after a few long seconds of careful, quick thinking, and with the encouragement of the ship's fog horn blaring, the redhead let out a loud growl and ran towards the docking ramp.

"FUCK IT! WAIT FOR ME, SHITHEAD!" Tayuya shouted, hitting the causeway seconds later.

Naruto grinned even wider at seeing her run towards him and dropped her bag right on the gangplank, stepping out of the way so that she could pick it up. When she reached him, huffing and puffing, she stuck her chest out and picked up the bag.

Swinging her belongings over her shoulder, she then glared angrily with a tint of red on her face at the irate blonde boy causing her so much pain.

Of course, her frustration wasn't to last. When she saw him smile down at her, Tayuya immediately became overwhelmed by the boy's dashing grin and sparkling blue eyes. The very sight had her look at him defiantly for a moment before settling for her own, gentle smile.

Wind blowing at their hair, the pair turned back to the crowd staring at them from the port below. With one final glance, they waved at them. Their other companion Luka, sitting comfortably atop of Tayuya's shoulder, yipped and wagged her tail happily in her own form of goodbye.

With the trio together once more, the redhead strolled the rest of the way up the ramp, followed shortly afterwards by Naruto.

"I'll see you guys when I get back in a year or so, okay!" the jinchuriki shouted, earning a show of waves from the others while he ascended the bridge. "It was great seeing you again Gaara… Kankuro! Take care of yourselves! All of you!"

"See yah, brat!" Kankuro shouted, grinning widely. He shook his head and laughed at himself, looking down to see Gaara smiling and waving after his friend. "What a character. Eh?"

"Yeah…" Gaara replied while lowering his hand, seeing the two shinobi they had fought alongside on their crazy journey finally step onto the vessel. With Kahiko and Emina also waving after them and the sound of the ship's horn blaring away, it meant the end of another great adventure for them, and the beginning of something else entirely.

"_Someday… I will be… more like you… Naruto Uzumaki."_ That thought stuck with Gaara throughout the entire send off ceremony. _"Take care."_

"I'm gonna miss that boy," Kahiko exclaimed, smiling over at his granddaughter who smiled back at him.

"Well… let's hope we get to see them again soon…"

Within the next half hour the ship finished loading up, the ropes were tied off, and after one final supply check, the enormous vessel slowly but surely set sail from the port. As it pulled away the ship's entire crew stood out on the decks waving goodbye to the people of the land who had helped them through their whole ordeal. Temujin, Kamira, their comrades and their new passengers consisting of two shinobi and one troublesome fox, waved goodbye to friends and family who they would hopefully see again in the future.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but maybe soon…

XXX

**Later that day…**

By this time, the sun had begun its setting over the horizon and the ship was finally far out of sight of the _Elemental Nations_ with nothing but wide opens seas ahead of them. The waves rocking against the ship, the seagulls 'singing' overhead and fresh, seawater air filling their lungs; it really was something else of a new experience for Naruto and Tayuya.

After moving into their quarters located somewhere along the superstructure of the ship above the main deck and leaving Luka to watch over their stuff, the two of them then retreated outdoors.

Standing out on one of the ring decks and taking up positions directly next to the railing, the pair of weary travelers used whatever daylight hours they had left to gaze out over the wide expanse of seas in front of them and admire the sight of the horizon line far beyond their reach.

Even though it was vast and empty for the most part, the two shinobi could see the touch of clouds on what looked to be the very edge of the ocean. The colors of orange and purple stretched out over the forever sky, extending from one point to the other. To them it was almost impossible to tell where heaven started and where it ended. It was just an infinite streak of colors, like a painter had just decided to splash all of the most vibrant and beautiful paints he had in his collection over a light blue canvas.

This was just the prologue to something amazing. This voyage, this… _new_ adventure that they had started on, it was going to be one of their longest ventures yet, and they were looking forward to it with great anticipation.

Naruto sighed as he felt the wind on his face and nudged the girl leaning against the rails alongside him.

"See… I told you it would be awesome," the jinchuriki exclaimed in delight. He couldn't help it. It was his first time on such a huge ship. There had been one or two days in his life he had been out on row boats, sail boats, and that ship that took his team on that mission to Snow Country. But _this_ vessel was a battleship torn down and transformed into a merchant vessel. It was completely different to anything else he'd ever traveled in.

"Have you ever seen the ocean like this?"

"No… never…" Tayuya spoke up, a tranquil sigh escaping her lips. The wind whipped at her hair as it did Naruto's, giving her that sense and feel of utter freedom. She hadn't felt this liberated since the day she started her journey with the blonde idiot. Her thoughts on the matter of course roused a chuckle from her lips. "I just can't help it. I'm never, _ever_ gonna leave your side, am I?"

"Nope," the jinchuriki shook his head, agreeing with her.

"I was afraid of that," Tayuya laughed. "This whole cluster fuck of a walkabout has taken us out of the country, away from the _Elemental Nations_, and out into a new world. I wonder what it's gonna be like?" Different villages, cities maybe… strange sights, new landmarks, powerful warriors, there were infinite possibilities!

"There's no one from our villages who can boss us around, no enemy ninja trying to hunt us down… really… there are absolutely _no_ problems that our country has that the other one will probably, not quite sure they will not, have," Naruto stood up off of the railing and stretched himself out. "Yup! It's a good time to be Naruto Uzumaki right now!"

"Do you think we'll be the first, present-day idiots from our land to actually set foot on Temujin's country?" Tayuya asked, turning towards the boy curiously with a smirk on her face. "I mean, besides tradesmen, explorers and shitheads like that… the first _shinobi_ to actually set foot on a different soil altogether. Maybe they won't like us over there, yah know."

"Ah, who cares?" Naruto waved a hand and turned around, leaning back against the railings and smiling at the redhead. "We can run, can't we?"

"Well, _you_ can. My legs are still a little stiff after getting fucked up under tons of wood," Tayuya replied, rubbing her thighs in emphasis to that point. She then shrugged and smiled at him. "Maybe they'll heal completely by the time we get there."

"You can jump around just fine. If the time comes and you can't, we'll work out a system," Naruto pointed between the two of them while giving her his childish grin. He snapped his fingers when an idea sprung up. "I'll carry you on my back and you can throw stuff at the guys chasing us."

"Naruto…"

"Okay, fine. You won't be able to throw that well when your own back is turned, so… how about I carry you bridal style?" the blonde continued without missing a beat, good naturedly elbowing her in the side. "It's perfect, ingenious, and I must say… it'll be a real _pleasure_!"

That was Jiraiya talking…

Tick mark throbbing, Tayuya slowly raised her fist above her before bring it right down on top of the jinchuriki's head. In addition to the force she was able to produce, she proceeded to grind her knuckles tightly into him for extra measure, making the boy squirm from both pain and discomfort of having the full weight of her hand pressing down on his head.

"T-T-Tayu-ya-chan… m-my brain…!"

"What? It's not like you've got one to worry about in the first place, shithead," Tayuya said good-humoredly, removing her limb and revealing to the world the fist imprint wedged into the blonde's skull. The pulsating bruise to follow parted his hair in a really funny way. "Don't even joke about stuff like that. Bridal style? Pft. Keep dreaming, like I'd ever let you hold me in that manner again. Stuff like that involving you…"

She froze up and her cheeks flashed a light shade of red upon realizing her blunder, which caused her to look away sharply. She _so_ didn't want to tread on that pond of hot water because to her, it was completely unfamiliar territory. Unfortunately, she had been unable to help or stop herself. It just sort of slipped out.

She had to come up with a good ending statement in order to avoid a discussion she didn't want to have right now.

"It… It makes me feel _uncomfortable_."

And failed miserably…

While leaning against the railings from his beat down, Naruto saw out of the corner of his swirly eyes that Tayuya was shifting about rather nervously where she was standing. From her fingers laced together to her legs rubbing against one another awkwardly, the observing teenager was clearly able to make out that the girl was under some kind of stress.

Heck, though what she had said and mumbled beforehand should have been sufficient enough evidence towards her true feelings in regards to the situation, he completely blew off those words in favor of the fact that his friend didn't seem to be doing too well at the moment.

His concern for her completely overcame the reality that _he_ was the one making her uncomfortable, but in a good way.

"Hey, Tay-chan. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," the girl mumbled, running a hand through her hair and glancing back up at him, smiling. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy from the sun."

"Oh?" Naruto grinned at her. "As long as you're okay, that's fine."

Tayuya smiled even deeper.

It was clear to her at this point that in the past, any softly spoken words directed towards her from anybody she knew would have been met with a wall of fury, curses and physical abuse if she felt it was necessary. However, having been around the blonde idiot for quite some time now and having gotten to know him personally, the experience had undoubtedly slashed open her once formidable armor and left a gaping hole in its wake.

No, his presence did more than just punch a mere opening through her defenses.

It completely stripped away her armor and left her with only her hands to push him away. But, as with every other case before her, Naruto's embrace wasn't that easy to escape from, nor was it easy to push away.

She was accepting his worries with open arms, because deep down… it made her feel warm.

She liked that feeling.

"_Jerk. Why is he so concerned about me?"_ Tayuya looked away to hide her reddening cheeks again, while scratching the right one uneasily. _"Heh. Why am I even bothering asking a question I already know the answer to? It's clear that it is something he'd do…"_

Worried that her companion might clue in to her excessive blushing as a hint of some form or level of attraction, or as a complete acceptance of his pleasantries, the girl shook the blood out of her face as quickly as she could. She looked back at the boy, who was still smiling in her direction.

When she looked at his face, she could see how much he'd grown over the last few months they'd been together.

The first time she had laid eyes on him she shrugged him off, immediately labeling him in her mind as a stupid, loud brat with no talent as a shinobi whatsoever.

The next day when he found her in the woods, not only did he go out of his way to help her at the risk of his own wellbeing, but she was also able to catch a glimpse of what he was really hiding behind all of that yelling and nonsense from before. In reality, he was a person who was willing to go the distance no matter how much pain he was in and no matter how much he'd lost or was at risk of losing. Though it was brief, she definitely saw it.

Her questions were then laid to rest as she watched him closely over the weeks to come; watched how he bravely stepped in for others in need, watched him go out of his way to help complete strangers… and watched how he put forth whatever time he had to make sure she was comfortable and happy. That individual she saw only grew in leaps and bounds since the day they left the _Land of Waves_, personifying that strength she saw he possessed.

That quality is what stood out about him then and what stood out about him now. It was almost as if he'd aged three years rather than three months. And that wasn't all…

"_His smile… has gotten brighter," _Tayuya thought, brushing hair behind her ear as if to draw his attention to her face. _"I think… it's starting to grow on me…"_

Naruto smiled in her direction, something she wanted to see and something she greatly appreciated. It was then, after an exchange of heartfelt gazes, he looked back out over the ocean.

"You're a really good friend, Tay-chan," the blonde merrily and sincerely stated.

It was this small passing that had the redhead pause for a moment.

With a bat of her eyes, Tayuya looked down over the side of the ship at the waves rocking against the steel vessel's hull. She breathed deeply, still wearing a small smile as she gave his words further thought. Though they were honest to truth words he spoke without any hesitation whatsoever, they still gave her mixed feelings.

The rare ones like happiness, serenity, contentment, and ease, they were all there. However, they were also accompanied by twinges of sadness, disappointment… a sense of incompletion that just left an empty space inside her. Sure, all the other good stuff was there, but there was that one little gap that just brought her down that tiny bit that didn't seem quite right.

She didn't know what it was at first, but she could guess.

Tayuya was no idiot. She'd been wrestling with this revelation for quite a while now.

"A friend… huh?"

"Hmm?" Naruto looked over at her, confused. "D-Did you say something, Tay-chan?"

The girl chuckled and shook her head. "Nah… I was just talking to myself." Turning around, she leaned with her back against the railing, eyes closed. "Just thinking out loud."

"About what?" Naruto tilted his head, giving her a mischievous grin. "Come on, tell me."

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with," Tayuya exclaimed, sliding over to him and nudging him in the arm. Her sudden proximity to him had the boy straighten up a little in surprise. "But if you're still curious, all I can say to you _blondie_ is that there are just _some_ problems that only _I_ have to deal with. You don't need to get yourself involved with them."

"Oh, really?" the jinchuriki blinked. He then grinned widely and looked back over the side, his sights locking onto the horizon. "Well, if it's just something you need to do then I don't need to worry unless you want me to. I'm happy as long as _you're_ happy."

Tayuya could appreciate that statement. She knew he would always make an effort to look out for her, to protect her and to make her happy. That was the kind of guy he was after all.

Still, he was also thickheaded to the point that he was clueless to the most obvious of physical gestures and declarations that even if someone was to be upfront with him about something important, they'd have to cut it down enough to be able to give him the full, clear picture.

Then again, even _he_ had his moments, so it was no surprise to her. They just came and went at random.

Pushing herself off the bars Tayuya began to walk away in an all too casual manner, bypassing the still cloud gazing troublemaker along the way. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're definitely one strange kid." She stopped directly behind him. "I'm glad that you're my friend too."

Hearing this had Naruto grinning from ear to ear.

Taking the silence and the twitch in his shoulders as the sign that he got it, Tayuya then smirked mischievously.

"However…"

Grabbing him by the ankles, the kunoichi unexpectedly lifted and tipped him over the side of the ship. Naruto's surprised wail faded away as he nose-dived the entire height of the vessel, which ended shortly afterwards with the sound of a distant splash.

The redhead leaned over the side to see the disturbance in the water made by his landing several yards down blend in with the rest of the sea, and waited patiently for him to resurface.

Moments later, Naruto emerged kicking, splashing and sputtering away to keep himself afloat while the ship steamed on, letting the tides drag him out.

"T-Tay-chan…argh… what the… 'cough'… hell?" he shouted, his voice carrying on up toward the vessel. "H-Help! T…Somebody… toss me a rope! Argh!"

Tayuya laughed, leaning over to watch him drift further over the waves as the dreadnaught plowed forward. It was quite clear that at present nobody onboard was aware of the fact that they had a man overboard and that they were leaving an important customer behind. But it wouldn't be too long.

It was a big ship; somebody was bound to spot him.

Of course, this possibility was also made a little bit more redundant by the fact that the ship was so large and so intent on reaching its destination that it was highly likely that nobody was gonna take any time or effort to either stop the lumbering vessel _or_ help the poor kid out.

This was quite hilarious to think about because he was a ninja; one who could easily walk on water and get back onto the ship using the same method that all shinobi were capable of.

Too bad it would take _this one_ a little while longer to figure that out.

"H-Help! T-Tay-chan! Throw me something! Anything!"

"No!" Tayuya snickered. "Swim!"

"W-What? NEVER! 'Cough'… Ack! Salty!"

It was all good fun. A little joke between friends you could say.

However, there was a much deeper meaning to all of this tomfoolery and only _one_ of the two travelers was really aware of this.

Tayuya's grin faded back into a small smile, her eyes shimmering as she watched the bumbling blonde freestyle alongside the ship as it continued cutting through the ocean. He was still calling out for somebody to give him a hand or throw him a line, but all his pleas for assistance were blocked out in her mind.

She had other things bothering her and there was no way she was going to let them lie so easily.

"However…" Tayuya continued from where she left off, running her fingers through her hair as they whipped on the wind. "I don't think I'm satisfied with us _just_ being friends, Naruto-kun." The girl smirked, turning away to look out over the ocean again. "Like I said; there are some problems that I have that you don't need to get yourself involved in… but… and I think you should know this, there are also _some_ problems that you _do_ and I _need_ you to get involved with."

As Naruto floundered in the waves and somebody on the deck further down the length of the ship finally spotted him, rescue attempts were immediately put into action. Too bad the idiot wasn't making it easy for them.

When the redhead looked back to see some of the kids onboard finally start hauling him back up using rope, Tayuya gave a rare giggle, one she only spared for someone really close to her…

The only person who ever managed to _get_ close to her…

"I'll wait for you to catch up to me," Tayuya shrugged, slipping her hands behind her head and beginning to walk away. She was pretty sure he'd be out for some payback. Hell, she didn't want to be around for that. She wanted to savor this moment for as long as she could. "When you do… we can figure this problem out together. And who knows, maybe one of these days… you and I will be able to walk down the same road, side by side, hand in hand… but not just as comrades… and not just as friends…"

The redhead blushed, still grinning.

These thoughts were making the warmth inside of her all fuzzy and tingly, and all it managed to do was make her smile even wider.

"I don't know, I think _as a couple_ would be the best way to walk down the rest of that road. Yeah."

* * *

_**Several days later…**_

_**Konohagakure…**_

"Damn… paperwork…" Tsunade mumbled, eyebrow twitching as she watched as yet another stack of the damn things was dropped unceremoniously in front of her by Shizune.

The brown haired woman sighed and stretched her back, sighting that the workload had just tripled for the Hokage… _exponentially_.

The head of the medical shinobi corp. as well as the shinobi forces, the village councils, the elders and all citizens of Konohagakure for that matter, ran a tired hand through her hair as she glared at the sheet she was currently reading through. It was a report on the latest shipment of weapons into their village, which had already been signed by the recipients and accounted for. Unfortunately she had to make sure this document was genuine and covered all of the essentials, and that meant reading the whole damn thing.

Once she was finished, she reached out, picked up the rubber stamp, smeared it onto a pad of ink, then stamped it on the document with the word 'sighted' made clear in red. She had two other kinds as well saying 'approved' and 'denied'. Though it seemed simple, it was the most monotonous job in the entire village and was so taxing on a person's mentality that it was no wonder Tsunade looked forward to her afternoon happy hours every single day.

If she couldn't sneak in one or two shots in between work, she was grateful for her afternoons off.

Slapping the paper on the going out pile, the woman leaned on her desk and rubbed her tired eyes. She glared up at Shizune and watched her move that mountain of documents over to the other side of the room.

"I swear to God, if I see another stack of papers come through that door, I'm going to burn it," the woman growled.

Shizune threw her a worried look. "Please don't."

"Seriously, I will!"

"You'll get into trouble," the cautious woman warned, while Tonton trotted around behind her to go sit over by the corner.

"Screw the repercussions!" Tsunade growled, slamming her fist into the groove on the desk next to her marked 'Please use this space when expressing anger' as indicated by the carving in the old oak surface. "When I took this job, nobody ever told me I'd have to sit through this shit day in and day out! And on top of that, not only do I have to organize and attend conferences, but I also have to sight the smallest of things, like leases, banking transfers, and stock renewal, and import and exportation fees." She glared over at her assistant standing meekly over by the side of the room along with the stacks of files that have already been processed. "Don't we have other departments for this crap?"

Shizune shrugged. "Well… you could… _set up_ a department in the administrative area for that material."

Blinking, the busty woman slapped herself in the forehead and suppressed a scream. All that came out was an aggravated snarl. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

"H-Hokage-sama…"

"WHAT?" Tsunade barked, glaring up at the door where she spotted Izumo standing and taking cover behind it.

The man nodded over his shoulder into the hall he was half in and half out. "A messenger from Sunagakure has arrived. S-She says she has an important letter for you."

Breathing out, the woman sank back into the support of her chair and looked up with a compliant expression drawn over. "Alright… send her in."

Nodding, Izumo disappeared into the corridor. Moments later, the door swung open fully and a kunoichi wearing mesh, purple garb, a giant war fan on her back and golden blonde hair stepped in. Closing the door behind her quietly, the girl then calmly approached the desk, stopping only to bow toward the lady sitting behind it.

"Hokage-sama."

"That's me," Tsunade replied, letting her cheek rest against her hand and placing her elbow on her armrest. "What's up?"

Temari straightened up and, reaching into the pouch on her back, pulled out a scroll and placed it on the desk. The look she threw the older woman next was one mixed with nervousness and exasperation. "Gaara wanted me to deliver this to you. He said that you'd be able to let _his_ friends know about it."

Curious, the Hokage pulled the scroll toward her and opened it up.

The correspondence was a short one and neatly written, so she didn't have to waste time deciphering the handwriting to be able to take in the information. Her eyes quickly moved from left to right as she drank in the entire report, and it didn't take long since getting into the material that the Hokage soon found herself sitting bolt upright in her seat and staring wide-eyed at the contents of the message.

Shizune quickly noticed her master's shocked expression and immediately addressed her concern at seeing the woman in that state.

"T-Tsunade-sama?"

The blonde lowered the letter, at the same time glancing robotically up at the messenger.

She was finally able to understand why Temari looked so tense the way she was standing in front of her, at attention, _with_ that narrow expression.

"Believe me… I'm as shocked as you are," the golden haired teen murmured.

The Hokage, clenching and unclenching her fists uneasily, then looked in the direction of her assistant.

"Get Naruto's graduating group, Team Gai and their instructors down here… I think they'll want to hear this…"

XXX

**About half an hour later…**

**And a bit longer thanks to Kakashi's tardiness…**

"THAT BASTARD!"

"Kiba! Calm down!" Kurenai shouted, taking hold of the boy's shoulders to prevent him from running up to the letter and snatching it from Tsunade's hands.

The blonde woman in question remained calmly where she sat, looking from one individual to the other in the order based on the levels of extreme they were expressing.

Kiba would be the first.

"Why should I?" the Inuzuka barked, struggling under his teacher's grip. However, finding his thrashing about just a pointless endeavor, the boy settled for glowering across at the scroll, as if Naruto himself was grinning at him from it while flipping him the bird. "First that idiot just ups and goes off on some 'quest' to find himself without even saying goodbye to us, and then he leaves the entire continent altogether! What the fu-!"

"You know," Shikamaru interrupted before his friend could finish, glancing over at the teen down the line the entire group of Genin had formed with a very bored look on his face. "This rather explicit tantrum that you're throwing right now is something that I would have expected Sakura to be having. _You_ on the other hand… I'm not quite sure what to think."

The feral boy rounded on the smart ass and glared. "Shut up! The guy was a rival to me! I wanted the chance to kick his ass around some more if I ever got another!" Huffing, he glared ahead of him again, his mood becoming even more depressing as the rest of the letter sunk in. "Now he's gone… and to top it off he's wandering around with some redhead that just so happens to be the same one from that band of freaks that took off with Sasuke a few months ago."

Shikamaru grunted in acknowledgement and looked over at Temari standing over by the wall with her arms folded. A couple of the others did so to, namely the ones who participated in that particular mission, Choji, Neji and Lee.

"I thought we had her beat," the Nara uttered uneasily, earning an annoyed glare from the girl with the fan.

"Your opponent was a lot tougher then I originally thought," Temari huffed, glancing away again. "But what I'm more interested in at the moment is what the hell kind of game she is playing at? First she's on Orochimaru's crew fighting against us and trying to kill us, and then the next thing you know she's siding with… well… _us_… or whoever side Naruto's on."

"Ahh, twitterpated," another voice sighed from the window behind the Hokage's chair to Tsunade's right.

All eyes in the room turned in perfect sync to see Jiraiya of the Sannin sitting comfortably on the wooden perch, scroll on his back and arms crossed.

In the next few seconds, it became quite clear that the wandering hermit didn't really expect to receive such a unanimous reception for his comment and, after showing the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look, turned away and began whistling nonchalantly.

"Do you mind repeating that, Jiraiya?" Tsunade hissed dangerously.

Screwing up the tone of his song a few times due to the pressure, the Toad Sannin glanced over at the woman briefly before looking away.

The killing intent wafting off of his old teammate was staggering.

"Sorry, don't know what you're talking about. I didn't say anything," he quickly replied.

"Good. I'll have none of that _nonsense_ in my office," Tsunade replied before glaring back over at the teams.

Obviously, each of the squads experienced mixed reactions to the news of Naruto's departure.

To put it simply, every individual present in the room expressed their own surprise, awe and displeasure in their own characteristic manner. Naruto's old schoolmates Shikamaru and Choji were set in low spirits, Ino was worried over the boy's wellbeing, and Asuma seemed to share the same level of concern as Kurenai, Gai and Kakashi. I mean, what teacher wouldn't be worried about their Genin out in a world filled with all sorts of mortal peril?

Shino didn't really express anything other than a vacant stare, Neji looked a little more than bothered, Tenten felt and appeared conflicted, and Lee was just being his youthful self in times of trouble. To be frank, the boy in green was tearing up and sniffling at the loss of a prospective rival.

Further down the line up, Kiba was pissed, Hinata was obviously upset by the way her head was lowered and how her fringe hid her downhearted gaze, and Sakura… well…

The pink haired girl was over by the corner sulking.

The news of Naruto leaving the village had hit her harder than any of the others in the room. Well… in truth it hit Hinata as equally hard as it hit her, but her negative reaction wasn't due to any deep-seated admiration and affection she expressed towards the boy like the Hyuuga did. It was because _he_ was _her_ teammate. Now, not only had her crush Sasuke up and left her in the dust, it seemed that Naruto, a boy who was as equally close to her as the Uchiha, had gone off as well.

How else could she have reacted to this turn of events? Sure, there had been a lot of crying, yelling, cursing, and a whole lot of things being beaten up in the wake of her frustration. After all that though, she had succumbed herself to mopping and intense brooding.

Kakashi had done his best to comfort her, and had even tried to draw her attention away from their absence through one-on-one training with her. But no matter what he did, he was unable to shake her out of her dejected state.

Even now, upon noticing her sitting far off in the corner gazing down at the floorboards with clear signs of hurt in her eyes, the silver haired Jonin walked on over to her and knelt beside her. No words were said; he simply placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her some company.

"What would compel him to leave this country so completely though? That's the only thing I'm most curious about," Neji spoke up, arms folded and glare fixated on the letter sitting on the desk.

"It could have been on impulse," Tenten murmured, glancing over at her normally serious, glassy-eyed teammate. "He does seem like the type of guy who would just _do_ something at random…"

"Like when he pulled a fast one over Kiba in the exams?" Shino murmured pointedly. This earned an annoyed scowl from said teenager.

"Shut up!" the Inuzuka barked.

"Or when he popped out of the ground and nailed Neji in the chin?" Shikamaru offered while shrugging his shoulders. "I swear I _did not_ see that one coming."

"It's his nature. He just did a lot of stuff that always turned out to be… well… he always managed to come out on the other end just fine," Ino concluded, shaking her head. "Geez, but sometimes it's just too much to deal with."

Choji chuckled. "No kidding."

"All we can safely say at this point is that Naruto for whatever reason, has not only left the village but all the other shinobi nations behind him to go on whatever journey he has decided to undertake," Tsunade stated, lacing her fingers together and propping her elbows up on her desk. "The best we can do for him from where we are is wish him well and hope he comes back safely. After all, he's made it perfectly clear in his note that he would be coming back, and I'm sure everyone in this room is aware of the fact that when Naruto sets out to do something, he will see it through to the end…"

All those present in the room nodded in agreement to that comment. Hell, a lot of the boys and girls who knew him the most smirked, smiled and giggled in their respective ways. There was no denying that the jinchuriki was a stubborn fool, someone who'd made quite a noticeable impact on each and every one of them. When it came to keeping promises, Naruto's face would be the first to appear on their lists.

"_N-Naruto-kun,"_ Hinata smiled suddenly, bringing her hands up to her chin. _"Please be safe… and come back to us soon."_

While the blue haired girl subtly wiped away unshed tears and smiled up at Kurenai standing behind her, who smiled down at the girl in kind and placed her hand on her shoulder, the others expressed their own feelings to the statement the Hokage had shared with them one by one.

"Heh, wherever he's going he's _that_ country's problem now," Asuma exclaimed, earning an affirmative nod from Ino, Choji and Shikamaru.

At least they no longer had to put up with his troublesome, mischief making. That was the only positive that could really be subtracted from all this.

"God speed, Naruto!" Gai exclaimed, raising his fist and pumping it excitedly. "May the power of youth burn strongly with you!"

"Yes!" Lee exclaimed, striking a similar pose and grinning widely. "I may not be with Naruto-kun at this point, but I swear I will continue to support him with all my heart! If he intends to travel, become stronger and find himself, then I shall do so to!" He jabbed his fist into his chest. "He has inspired me to work even harder to reach my goals!"

Temari sweat dropped where she was standing and gave the sparkling duo an odd look. "O…kay…"

Kiba huffed and turned away, seemingly still in a bit of a mood.

However, after some impatient tapping and teeth grinding, he then grinned just like the others and slammed his fist into his open palm. "Heh, whatever! It doesn't matter where he's going or how hard he trains because when he comes back, I'm gonna beat him into the ground!" He raised his right hand and clenched it even tighter. "I'll make sure to train even harder then him so that I can knock him upside the head the next time we fight!"

Akamaru, nesting comfortably inside of his jacket, yipped happily.

Shino grunted in agreement. "I too… would like to see how strong he will become…"

People's spirits seemed to lift in the wake of their depression and warmth gradually returned to the atmosphere. Everyone in the room, from close friends to teachers, were counting on Naruto getting stronger on his little side trip. Sure it was far out of the country and they could no longer see each other, but was that really that much of an issue?

Naruto was tough. He had dragged a lot of them down into the ground in confrontations when their certainties stood against one another, and pulled them down even further when physically beating them wasn't enough. He had also proven time and again that he could grow in leaps and bounds in his abilities whenever he focused on something and worked tooth-and-nail on it. There was truth in saying that the land he was journeying too would be next to feel his wrath and whatever foes he may face while there would regret ever crossing paths with him.

The boy was an untamable force. Everyone was safe to count on him.

Tsunade smiled when she saw the kids in front of her cheer up. Even in his absence the troublemaker that got her into this job in the first place was still affecting people around him. She needed more guys like that, but at the same time less.

All you would ever need was that good half of Naruto and that was it. Forget the other one that causes havoc wherever he goes.

Oh, if only she knew of the number of alterations that have taken place since last seeing him.

After watching the teams embrace the idea of changing and growing stronger for their teammate, she then noticed Sakura still simmering in the corner beside Kakashi. The man was continually trying to console her over the news and didn't seem to be going anywhere. The girl was still looking completely down.

With some careful thought and figuring she should help the Jonin out with his task, the Hokage quickly dismissed all those present and shooed the crowd out, leaving only Jiraiya, Shizune, Temari, herself and the remaining members of Team 7 behind. Once things settled down and the office was quiet again, she then approached Sakura and knelt down in front of her.

The kunoichi refused to face any one of the adults surrounding her, and merely curled further up where she sat.

"Hey, you okay?" Tsunade asked, raising her hand towards her head.

The moment she attempted to make contact, the pink haired girl turned away, still hiding her chin under folded arms placed on top of knees pulled up to her chest.

"I… I'm fine, Hokage-sama… it's just…" Sakura murmured while shutting her eyes. "It's just… N-Naruto…"

Looking a little crestfallen herself in response to the girl's clear distress over the situation, Tsunade lowered her hand to her side and rose to a stand once again. She sighed as she gazed down at the youngster, rubbing the side of her head as she thought of how best to cheer her up through words or to perhaps at least put her on the road to recovery. "Losing two teammates in such a short period of time is rough, especially for you Genin. I can understand that perfectly."

Thought it wasn't immediate, Sakura did eventually turn her attention to the woman, with a gaze revealing her inquisition and puzzlement over her statement.

The young kunoichi met the hard gaze of the powerful woman locked onto her head on, which she returned with a mellow blink and an unsure tilt of her head.

"I've lost friends and family members myself, all of whom I cherished dearly. Though those experiences shook me up, I'd always managed to stand through it all and keep moving forward. However, while I've always been able to fight through most of the hardships and hard times in my life, I do admit that there was at least one time in my past I thought I'd actually thrown in the towel," Tsunade shrugged, giving this memory and the grinning, troublesome boy that had managed to turn it all around for her further consideration. The thought of him made her smirk in amusement. "But I'd learned that you just have to pick yourself up whenever you fall down and keep on walking. After all, these things happen. We just can't help it sometimes…"

Her eyes remained fixated on the kunoichi of Team 7 for a few moments longer, who was now glaring towards the nearest wall she could see. Her lapses in attention indicated that she was still troubled by thoughts of her team, and the new information being transmitted to her. It was something to be expected.

The Hokage turned to walk back to her desk, thinking to herself that it was space that the girl needed the most right now.

"If you need some time to gather your thoughts together, then all you have to do is ask. You've been through a lot… so I won't force anything else on you until you feel comfortable to keep on moving." The village leader said, leaving Kakashi to handle the rest.

The moment Tsunade sat back down at her desk and went about contemplating the full gravity of the situation, the Sannin failed to notice the expression of conflicting thoughts and emotions race across Sakura's face.

The instant after her concluding statement was uttered that the girl needed time to recuperate and think… well… the only purpose it served from that point onwards was a light to the fuse of the display to come.

Time? Rest?

Sasuke was gone because of her indecisiveness and Naruto was also gone as a further consequence of her inability to act. The cause for her teammates, her best friends leaving… was it all because of her hindrance to them?

Thinking back on it, on everything that has happened to her recently, on everything that has happened to her mere months ago, and _**everything**_ that has happened to her and her team since their formation, these memories alone were all that was needed for Sakura to snap out of her reverie.

Everyone else that had been in this room moments before had something to walk away tall and proud with? What about her? All she'd ever done was stand on the sidelines, cry and make comments, all the while Naruto and Sasuke worked their butts off to grow, to become stronger and to become better than what they were before. That's what everyone else was doing, that's what everyone was keen on doing now! Why not her?

So, sucking it up, the girl stood from her corner and straightened up attentively. In Kakashi's eyes she shot up like an arrow launched from a bow, which made him jump a little because he wasn't expecting such spontaneous movement from one of his more tame students.

Breathing out, the girl marched to the Hokage's desk and stood before it. It was the sound of her heavy footsteps coming to a stop that had Tsunade look back in her direction from her quiet meditation.

"Tsunade-sama, please make me your student!"

If the shock of her recovery didn't make people do a double take, then it was _this_ request that definitely made its mark. Jiraiya, still sitting on the windowsill, looked over at the girl with a raised eyebrow. Kakashi blinked in surprise, appearing as though he was about to mount some sort of protest or defense, as did Shizune, and Temari simply gawked from over by her side of the room.

The village leader stared at the girl for a moment, seeing her once downhearted gaze looking back at her and radiating with absolute confidence. Her words had her stop whatever thoughts she was sparing towards the future as well as Naruto's wellbeing, and fix all of it on the girl now presenting her with the request for apprenticeship.

Surprisingly enough, Tsunade took the girl's words in stride. Looking closely at her, the older woman compared her to both Sasuke and Naruto, and considered her current abilities carefully. She didn't leave out anything; history, stats, results, reports… she thought about her question long and hard.

While Kakashi was her team leader and also her teacher, the other two boys on her team had gotten more training from other people and extra lessons. While the Uchiha was shanghaied by their enemy and former colleague, Naruto had taken lessons from Jiraiya and produced some surprising results because of his efforts. She had read up on what the boy was like before being taken under the old goat's wing for that brief period before the third stage of the exams, and she'd also read up quite a bit on Sakura's history too.

She was… _interesting_. The kunoichi was nothing like Naruto or Sasuke in terms of combat prowess or shinobi conduct. She wasn't brash, she was incredibly collected for the most part, and she was incredibly intelligent. In fact, in terms of focus and discipline, Sakura's potential in those respects topped with her ability to achieve high results in certain situations, set her several leagues above the potential possessed by either of her teammates. Kakashi himself had praised the girl in his reports for being able to accomplish particular tasks with ease that the boys on her team could not.

Intelligence, level-headedness, strong will power, bursts of confidence… that was potential she could not overlook.

Tsunade smirked.

It was definitely her will power and recovery time that was shining right now. Sakura getting to her feet so readily was quite a stunning turnaround.

"So… you want me to take you under my wing?"

Sakura nodded, clenching her fists. "I… I want to train… and become stronger; strong enough to support my teammates!" She bowed to the woman. "Please."

The woman locked her fingers together and placed her hands on her desk, all the while being observed by a nervous Shizune and Kakashi. Jiraiya remained the most composed of those with seniority in the room, intrigued by this turn of events and where it was possibly leading to.

"You really want to do this?" Tsunade inquired, watching the girl look up at her with a calm and serious stare. "I'm warning you now… I won't go easy on you. You need to be incredibly attentive if you're going to be learning jutsu and theory from me, and my physical exercises are no walk in the park either. Not only that, but you'll also have responsibilities to fulfill with your current sensei, and I'm sure he has a few more things he would like to teach you." The woman looked over at the Jonin with a small smirk, seeing the man look back at her uneasily for a moment before returning her gaze with a nod of understanding.

Acknowledging his acceptance of possible collaboration, Tsunade looked around at the girl for a second time. "Are you still certain you want to do this?"

"Yes," Sakura replied without a second thought.

The woman grinned.

"Very well."

Hearing this, the kunoichi's mood almost instantaneously brightened, and after yet another bow she smiled brightly at the village leader. "T-Thank you very much!" Upon straightening up, she assumed the position of attention, looking ahead to see the Hokage grace her with yet another, all-knowing smile once her excitement had boiled over.

"Work hard, Sakura Haruno."

"I will!"

Shizune smiled happily with her companion Tonton sitting in her arms 'oinking' in approval. Temari also flashed a small smile, but chose to keep this to herself and looked away a moment later, wondering what other interesting things might befall her today while she was in town.

Kakashi smiled happily. Though you couldn't see it, you could tell that he was happy by way of his eye closing and crinkling upwards in that joyful manner. He was at first worried that his only remaining student would have been too shaken up from the recent events to pick herself up and move on. But seeing her standing before the Hokage and asking for more work, to train and become strong like her friends… this was a huge step forward for her.

He walked over to stand beside his student and placed his hand on her shoulder. Sakura looked up at him in surprise, seeing the silver haired man gazing down at her with pride. He squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.

"Good luck," Kakashi exclaimed. "We're expecting great things from you. Let's not let Naruto or Sasuke down… okay."

Blinking, the kunoichi smiled. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Overcome from witnessing this scene of renaissance and illumination, Jiraiya grinned and looked out the window over Konohagakure while the members of Team 7 thanked Tsunade greatly for the opportunity to continue training under her guidance. The Toad Sannin knew that times would be tough for them, but Sakura was really determined to do this.

She was wearing the same eyes _his_ long gone student wore. Now _that_ was something to think about.

"_Do you hear that kiddo?"_ Jiraiya grinned while thinking as he stared up at the sky._ "Because of you, everyone is determined to work even harder. Guess you're gonna have to train extra hard if you're going to rise above their expectations and ambitions. They're quite big after all."_

All these kids were strong and had a lot of potential.

The Sannin could only hope that the jinchuriki was working to the bone to become stronger, because not only did he have enemies over here he was expected to fight in the future, but his friends were also out to prove themselves. Competition, danger, responsibility, all of these things stacked up in the end.

"_Show me what a future Hokage can do in a couple years time… Naruto…"_

* * *

_**A month later…**_

_**Thousands of miles away…**_

Temujin's country was indeed a beautiful place to be. It was no wonder the young man was determined to bring peace and live here for the rest of his existence. No one from the _Land of Fire_ had ever seen anything like it.

Lush forests of evergreen spread out far and wide, rolling hillsides dominated the open valleys here and there, mountains on the horizon stretched high into the sky, and the changes in the seasons were so intense any shinobi living out here would swear they were stepping in and out of one nation after the other.

The land wasn't confined to one geography or temperature. It was in a constant state of gradual change.

The air smelled different, yet it was fresh. The villages were also particularly unique, with many of the building designs stumbled upon at various points along the road being diverse in its construction, whether out of wood, plaster, concrete or stone. From simple homes to extravagant castles that could be seen for miles around, a lot of these aforementioned establishments were simply amazing. Heck, a lot of them were even more stunning then the monument back in _Konohagakure_.

Furthermore, the civilians who occupied these welcoming looking towns were just as varied and miscellaneous as the people in the Shinobi Nations a whole ocean away. Their mannerisms, their clothing, the homes they lived in and their cultures were all so strange to the visitors, yet they didn't seem to mind them at all. Variance and culture was the spice of life after all. They could roll with it no problem.

Though the land had once been wracked by the eras of war for many years in the past, the people seemed to be getting along just fine now. Neighbors were saying 'hello' and 'good morning' to one another, and nobody was scared of anyone really. It was all so open now.

However, there were one or two little unpleasant discrepancies in their day to day lives that Naruto and Tayuya still had to deal with. Even Temujin had his own problems he had to take care of back in his home village, so the pair didn't stick with him for too long since he was so busy.

After their first month here and after a great number of incidents had come and gone already, the pair of mischievous shinobi have finally started to go along with the many ups and downs of these strange lands. Now their adventures, training regiments and various new learning experiences in these foreign countries could be considered normal for them.

As if their lives as shinobi back in their homelands weren't peculiar enough.

Passing out of the last kingdom they had stopped at, which was in the process of being rebuilt from _damages_ that had occurred in the period of their stay, Naruto and Tayuya had managed to hitch up a ride with a farmer. Lying in the back of his cart amongst bundles of soft hay, the pair took the time they had on hand to get some much needed rest as the merchant beckoned his mule to march on with his stock, while at the same time humming a jolly tone.

He was completely aware of their presence. It wasn't like they were stowaways or anything like that. Of course, after learning of their previous endeavors and services to the kingdom now disappearing over the hills, the farmer was now going out of his way to make their journey out as comfortable and as enjoyable as possible.

Looking back, the elderly man smiled while his transport trundled along at a comfortable pace, completely ignoring the bumps and humps in the road.

"You two must have been through quite a bit of trouble I can assume so, aye?" the man with the white hair exclaimed, tipping his hat up with his riding crop, "Those bandits you saved us from, they were a real nasty bunch of folks… _very_ unpleasant. We cannot thank you enough for helping us back there."

No response…

Cracking an eye open, the elder looked over his goods to see if they were doing okay.

He smiled when he saw that the traveling teenagers were sound asleep.

The spiky, blonde haired boy with whiskers on his cheeks, wearing the black coat with orange trim and painted mask sitting lop-sided on his face, was sprawled out on his mat and snoring quietly away. The red haired girl accompanying him, wearing the khaki battle dress, purple cap and with a sword sheathed on her back, was huddled up against him with a small, cute smile of her own and was sleeping peacefully away.

Their pet fox, also completely out of it, was curled up and nestled between them for warmth.

The elderly farmer chuckled and looked back, watching the road ahead of him.

They were tired, so he figured it'd be best to just let them lie.

"Ah well, I guess they received all the thanks they wanted…" He resumed humming, carrying on with his work as he would any other day.

What happened today back in that town and everything that had transpired beforehand; those events were only the start of Naruto and Tayuya's journey here. The months to come would be filled with great adventure, danger, pain, sadness, and happiness for the pair. These lands weren't easy after all.

However, over the year the two of them would spend here, the villagers of this land for far and wide would come to speak of them in whispers and stories. Tales would be told to children of a pair of mysterious travelers, moving from place to place, helping out people in need and saving kingdoms from bandits, armies, fiends, beasts and all sorts of horrible creatures.

The characters: a man with golden hair, wearing the smile of the devil and wielding the power of a demon, and a woman with fiery red hair, who plays the song of the siren and enchants all men on sight.

Their name: _The Wanderers…_

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

* * *

_**Author's Note:** Finally, after so long, got this updated. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to frame Naruto and Tayuya's relationship as it is now and where it will go. Tayuya has fallen for Naruto, though she doesn't want to admit it yet and is waiting for him to 'catch up to her' so to speak. She seems like that type to be stubborn about it. Not to mention the teasing, I laughed at that._

_Now, Sakura's apprenticeship, I figured it would come later what with Naruto's absense and such. Learning of him leaving would have shaken her up a bit, but she is a strong girl. Seeing everyone can hyped up at Naruto's determination to learn and... you know, do something with his life, it would get others motivated. I mean, anyone would get pumped seeing Naruto work hard and do awesome things._

_Okay, now here is where the timeskip will take place. I have an interesting arc coming up so bear with me. Hope you enjoyed this and see you soon._


	16. Premonition

**NARUTO**

_**Melody of the Wanderers**_

_Premonition_

"_**W-Where… Where is he?"**_

_The sounds of heavy panting and footsteps echoed ominously through the damp, dark, twisting hallways of one of many of Orochimaru's hideouts._

_The soulless walls of concrete covered completely in wave line art, lit only by the occasional candlelight flickering on a cold breeze, were the only distinctive features of the marauders' surroundings. It truly was a retched and unpleasant place to be._

_Constant enclosed spaces, a black ceiling, empty rooms, chilling caverns, and an ever-present sense of foreboding were the only senses of comfort one could really take from this underground labyrinth of despair. It definitely suited the purposes of the villains running the show on this side of the river. This place wasn't just some measly hideout designed to mess with intruders' heads or to lose people in the dark to wander around for hours on end; it was also designed to break your spirits._

_Hope didn't exist in this reality._

_It was this empty feeling that was racking at the bodies of ones Sakura Haruno, Captain Yamato, and Kakashi Hatake as they sprinted down this way and that._

_Sweat flew off of the pink haired kunoichi as she led the charge, turning down one corridor after the other. The situation looked bleak, as they had no idea where they were going or what exactly they would encounter sprinting down these hallways. Every passageway looked exactly the same as the last one. There was no telling where they would end up._

_However, her goal down here was clear._

_Every so often the girl would stop and kick open doors. A second would pass them as they gazed into the room beyond, with whatever light that was in the hallways spilling into the chamber of their focus._

_When they were greeted with the sight of nothing but more empty spaces and walls with no windows, the group simply carried on. They weren't going to let the shadows impede their mission._

_After coming this far, they weren't going to stop._

"_**Where are you?"**_

_Kakashi and Yamato said nothing as they followed diligently after Sakura, who was intent on finding her own way through here._

_She was determined._

…

"_**Not here…"**_

_She was determined to find the very thing that has eluded her for so long…_

…

"_**He's not here!"**_

_The very thing that has eluded all of them for so long…_

…

_But where this thing was… was a mystery._

"_**Where are you?"**_

_Another door slams shut as the panting girl sprinted on. She picked up speed, taking charge straight down the hallway they were currently in. Candles and doors flew by her as she bit down hard, determined to reach the end of this and reach, hopefully, the center of this underground complex._

_She didn't care how long it took._

_This labyrinth of misery and hatred wasn't going to keep her quarry from her forever._

_She had worked too hard to stop now._

_Whatever it took, even if she had to tear down every last, Goddamn wall in this place, she was going to find him._

"_Where are you?" Sakura shouted, shaking her head and lunging forward._

_More darkness approached…_

_However… this wasn't the darkness of more hallways…_

_This shadow was coming from a chamber further down and the two red dots of cold eyes glaring back at her as she charged towards it…_

_They belonged to the very thing she was searching for…_

…

…

…

"_SASUKE!" the kunoichi cried out, tears flying from her eyes._

_There was a spark of lightning…_

_And a second later an earth shattering explosion engulfed the entire hallway, sending rubble, dust, smoke and debris flying towards the group closing in on the end. The members of Team 7 shielded themselves as they were bombarded by shockwaves and earth, stopping only momentarily to stay on their feet and withstand the forces of the mighty blast._

_Seconds later the fireworks died down, leaving the corridor choked with fumes._

_Ignoring it completely, Sakura looked back up._

_Sunlight!_

_The very sight of the outside world beckoned the kunoichi to pursue it. Without a moment of hesitation she waved past the smoke and sprinted towards the sun shining at the end of the tunnel._

_Through the thick of the smoke and the shadows of the hall, as she drew closer, she could make out features of what was once the room that had awaited them. Rubble dominated the gaping hole now carved into this part of the earth and whatever distinctive features of the chamber itself remaining were gone. All that was left were bits of wall and the floor littered with the concrete remnants of the hollow._

_And… standing in the middle of it…_

"_Sai!" Sakura shouted, jumping free through the threshold and coming to a screeching halt in front of the boy._

_The teen with the black hair and wearing the figure hugging uniform of a ROOT member spared the girl a single glance, before turning his attention to the edge of the newly formed cavern above him._

_At first the heavily breathing kunoichi was confused by his lack of attentiveness. However her suspicions were soon put to rest when her ears were filled with an all too familiar sound…_

"_Sakura, huh?"_

_Eyes widening the girl also turned her attention towards the mouth of the fissure. A mixture of shock and fear coursed through her like lightning when her focus was shifted to the very being she had been pursuing. At the same time, Kakashi and Yamato appeared on the scene, skidding to a halt beside their two teammates._

_The two Jonin, the Chunin, and the ROOT agent's eyes quickly became fixated on the figure standing above them, shadowing them under the light of the sun hanging high in the sky. At first his form revealed itself as a silhouette under the blinding rays of clarity, surrounded by dancing leaves caught on a wind that they could not feel._

_After all, he was up there and they were down here, locked in the crosshairs of his glare._

_Unfortunately Sakura wasn't privy to this fact. She was in too deep a shock to register to the aura of hostility wafting off of him._

"_S-Sasuke… kun?"_

_He had finally appeared._

_Dressed in a white, long sleeved shirt, wearing blue pants, a cloth belt, and purple rope tied firmly around his waist, with his unique, raven cut hair adorned atop his head, the last of the great Uchiha stood before them._

_After three long years they had finally found him… finally caught up to him._

_Sakura was in awe, Sai was battle ready, as was Yamato, and Kakashi focused his best and most intensive glare on the boy. If it weren't for a fact that they were facing down a long lost teammate, they would have struck him down by now. He was, after all, a missing nin._

_In other words… a target…_

_The teen didn't wait for his audience to speak further, deciding to take the initiative._

"_Where's Naruto?" the raven haired boy asked, his eyes crinkling curiously as he looked from one intent stare to the next._

_He had expected more familiar faces._

_Nevertheless, the fact was that he was faced with only two quarters of his former team as well as two strangers. It was the last quarter he was most intent on facing and was most expected to face._

_Unfortunately…_

"_N-Naruto?" Sakura blinked, finally regaining her hold of reality. "H-He…?" She gulped, wondering how best to respond to his immediate questions._

_It'd been years, she didn't know how she was supposed to answer the teammate who had so willingly run off to join Orochimaru. Hell, she never even gave a moment of thought about what she was going to say to him if she was to ever run into the Uchiha again._

_She had only half expected him to be here waiting for her, while the other half of her assumed he would just run off again and disappear for another two years. _

_Things were different this time though. He was neither hiding nor running._

_This time he was facing them and with a question nobody knew how to respond to. The only ones who could possibly answer that were Kakashi and Yamato, but even they were caught up in the moment._

"_He's not here," the boy murmured, tilting his head slightly. Though he didn't show it his inquest into the situation was all there in his eyes, "I'm surprised."_

_Kakashi's hand clenched. The sixth sense he had developed over his many years of experience picked up on the unquestionable amount of intent to cause harm now bellowing like flames off of the boy high above them. It didn't help that he could also sense a powerful force mixed in with this feeling. It was like he was facing a huge black cloud, one that had the absolute potential to rip apart the pure blue skies above and transform the tranquil atmosphere of the world into a storm._

_Everything about his former student told him that Sasuke, over his many years of absence from his friends and his home, had become strong…_

_Really strong…_

"_**Sasuke…"** Kakashi gritted his teeth and flexed his fingers, readying himself for a clash. The whole situation felt that it was unfolding into a confrontation way too quickly, and he knew without a doubt that the boy above them would be the one to make the first move. **"How strong… has your hatred for your brother made you?"**_

_These weren't words of praise…_

_They were words of fear._

"_W-Why?" Sakura asked with her own fists tightening as she gazed up at the teen she held the greatest respect and affection for._

_The Uchiha raised an eyebrow._

_Stopping her limbs from shaking by force, the girl shook her head again to clear her consciousness and glared heatedly up at her teammate. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she refused to let them fall._

"_Why did you leave us behind?" the girl shouted, using the voice she had heard many times in the past and with it, spoke up in his lack of presence._

_Had he been here…Naruto… the girl knew for a fact that **he** would be the one making the demands she was now spouting…_

_Wanting to know why…_

_Why his friend just up and left them?_

"_Why did you leave your friends, the people who cared about you and loved you the most, behind?" Sakura cried out again, stepping forward. "Why did you cut yourself off from everybody you trusted?"_

"…"

"…"

_There was silence._

_Sasuke said nothing as he considered his former teammate's words and looked between all the anxious faces fixed on him. He could see the confronting glares of Kakashi, Yamato and Sai, as well as the desperate glimmer present in Sakura's. The kunoichi stood out the most from the team of four and was making the greatest effort to appeal to him._

_The questions she was asking of course he was glad to answer…_

"_They were holding me back…"_

_Everyone's eyes widened, especially Sakura's._

_The kunoichi backed away, overcome._

_Sasuke blinked, "The village served its purpose to me as a stepping stone to reaching my ultimate goal, which is to see the brother who murdered my family lying dead at my feet. My leaving was all for this; done so in order for me to grow without constraints and without impediments. Friendship and love… they were merely cobblestones on the road I walk on… which I have now left far behind…"_

_Words of a poet, but they had just as much of an effect on his audience as he meant them to be._

_The pink haired girl under his gaze responded in bewilderment._

_Sakura's body trembled as she drank in the raven haired boy's words, the words he spoke without any hesitation or remorse. His voice, in contrast to all others she had heard, was devoid of all emotion and feeling. If you were to add this to the image he was also presenting, all it did was drag all the light surrounding him into his core._

_He was like a black hole, sucking up all life and breath into his very being._

_That was the feeling she was getting now that she was able to see him after all these years…_

"_W-What…" Sakura slowly shook her head, unable to believe what she was registering to. "What's happened to you… Sasuke-kun?"_

_The boy flickered out of view._

_The next thing Sakura knew was the Uchiha standing right next to her, his left arm wrapping around her in a partial hug._

_Of course, it seemed like a hug to her._

_What it really was, was the optimal positioning of himself to deliver the final blow, as he stood smiling over her shoulder with his right hand on his hip and left hand on her shoulder across her chest._

_Kakashi, Yamato and Sai jumped. Their widened eyes locked onto the missing ninja now standing directly in front of them._

"_H-How did he…?" Yamato choked._

_Kakashi's glare hardened, as did his stance, **"He's gotten faster…"**_

_Sakura blinked, coming to the full realization that the teen was now in front of her. She felt him lean in, his lips crinkled into a small smirk._

_"I grew up, Sakura," the boy exclaimed, shaking his head slightly in disappointment. "And you? You've spent all these years of living, all these years of training, and all these years of pursuing me, for the sake of some little childhood fantasy that you yourself created from the days when we were kids?" He chuckled a little, but very lightly so as to not destroy the feelings he had so perfectly instilled in all those present. "It's kind of funny… thinking about it."_

_The kunoichi remained quiet where she was standing, unmoving. The reason why she was unable to act, why she couldn't take action, was that the shock of everything that was happening right now was being multiplied by the words being spoken to her by her former teammate._

_It was exactly what Sasuke wanted._

_He wanted her to hear every little word he was speaking as clearly and loudly as he felt was necessary._

_"You need to open your eyes," Sasuke said, his smile disappearing. "Things are different now. We are no longer a team, we are no longer comrades, and we are no longer children. Ever since the night I left the village, I severed all connections I had with **that** past… save for one or two…" The boy reached behind him with his free hand and gripped the handle of his sword. The weapon clacked as he pulled it out, the base of the blade flashing in the sun._

_The speed he was moving at was incredible._

_While the world appeared in slow motion to him, to the others… they were barely able to flinch, let alone respond in time, to his sword suddenly becoming fully unsheathed._

_At first he was just standing there. The next thing they knew was his sword's blade flashing through the air and the sound of cold steel gliding against its scabbard._

_Kakashi, Yamato and Sai immediately leapt forward, taking action!_

_They were still too slow though._

_At least, that's how it appeared from Sasuke's point of view._

_Sakura's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. All the while the Uchiha positioned his sword around for a strike. The arc of silver through the air flashed the rays of sun cascading down on top of them, signifying the end soon to come._

_"S-Sasuke...-kun..."_

_The teen she was addressing smiled, even though she couldn't see it. It wasn't a happy one or an angry one. It was just a small, unflinching grin._

_"I'm saying all of this because in spite of leaving all of that behind me... I still view you and Naruto as my closest of friends. You two in particular, who supported me and looked out for me all this time, even when I wasn't asking for your support to the point of refusing it, I won't ever forget the times we spent together." He closed his eyes, while his blade flickered as he swung in for the final blow._

_"Thank you..."_

_It didn't take much for the girl to give way. Shutting her eyes, Sakura began gushing tears she had been holding back._

_His words were more hurtful than anything she had ever experienced before. Heck, even though he recognized her as a good friend, he didn't view her as anything else. It was gut-wrenching, but that was the cold hard truth. The moment her tears started to fall and her head began to sink in despair; her former teammate's blade began its unyielding descent..._

_Kakashi and Sai leapt in, moving just within reach to stop the incoming katana aiming to carve its sharp edge right through the kunoichi._

_The original Team 7 leader in particular was looking frightened… terrified even! His hand stretched out to catch the wrist as it cut through the wind, while the other lunged for Sasuke himself, tanto drawn and also aiming to strike the attacker down before he had a chance to slay a comrade._

_It seemed that chaos was about to spill out over the entire battlefield the moment that all strikes executed hit their marks._

_More than one was bound to fall…_

_..._

_..._

_However…_

_..._

_Everything just seemed to stop the moment Sasuke's blade came to a shuddering halt in midflight._

_It wasn't that the raven haired self-proclaimed avenger stopped his movements intentionally. It was because someone looking on from the sidelines had been fast enough to step in between both the path of his katana and the pink haired girl curled up in front of him, which rendered his strike motionless._

_In that instance of ceased momentum all eyes widened in shock, especially the Uchiha's, when both sides were suddenly and unexpectedly confronted by a third party member who, on first glance, appeared to be in no way allied to either band._

_This was indeed so because not only did nobody recognize this person but he was also wearing a Kirigakure Hunter-Nin mask._

_A thick, black coat with orange trim waving on the wind, Sasuke found himself gazing into the sharp, cold eyes of a man who was not only fast enough to catch his sword in mid-swing, but was also strong enough to hold him firmly in place. Furthermore, he had also removed his hand from Sakura's shoulder meaning that both their limbs were occupied with one defending and the other on the offensive._

_Both had effectively canceled each other out and switched the lightning swift progression of the battle into a stalemate._

_Realizing that she wasn't dead, Sakura looked up in surprise. When she saw Sasuke's glare directed toward something or someone standing behind her the girl slowly turned around to see what had happened._

_The kunoichi would have screamed had she not already been in a state of high gear._

_The man that had stopped her former teammate from striking her down in cold blood was someone she had never seen before, but indeed had quite the startling outlook. The individual was a stranger wearing a full black ensemble with orange trim, had a blonde mane of hair similar to the Fourth Hokage's on top of his head, and a Kirigakure mask with scars all over it, and a mouth painted in blood formed into a creepy smile._

_It was quite an intimidating sight, especially since the person cast quite a prominent shadow._

_Kakashi and Sai had stopped in their tracks the moment they realized that someone had beaten them to the punch. Why they didn't continue their attacks and cut down both Sasuke and the stranger was quite simple…_

_The person that had shown up out of nowhere came down from above in the form of a yellow flash. That was more than enough to have the blood of all Konoha shinobi looking on freeze._

"_**Fast!"** Sai thought with an expressionless blink._

"_**Se-Sensei?"** Kakashi shook his head, narrowing his gaze from his position a couple of feet away when he mistook the person for his long dead teacher. **"No… it's not. But that speed… I recognize that agility…"**_

_Sasuke's wide eyes blazed into life with the Sharingan. Tomoes spinning, he reacted quickly to the new threat._

"_You!"_

_A spark of electricity flashed along his arms, shortly followed by two simultaneous explosions of steam from where his wrists were being held by his opponent. The blonde haired boy released him the instant the explosions occurred and the Uchiha was blasted backwards like he was fired out of a cannon. Sakura shrieked at the sudden gush of hot wind, all sides watching through squinted or shielded eyes as the raven haired boy retreated across the ground towards the other end of the crevasse._

_Sliding to a stop amidst a cloud of dust Sasuke glared heatedly back up with blood red eyes to lock onto his masked opponent, who seemed unfazed at the sudden detonations. While the Uchiha maintained a lowered stance with his sword drawn, his opponent remained standing perfectly rigid yet calm, without any signs of immediacy in his actions whatsoever._

"_**I can't let that person get a hold of me!"** Sasuke thought furiously, his glare tightening on the newcomer who raised both his hands and assumed a narrow, defensive fighting stance._

_The Uchiha briefly glanced down at his wrists to assess the damages sustained from their techniques clashing at extremely close range. When he did, he saw that the bands he was wearing had been burnt right through to his skin. Had it not been for his executing of his chidori with both arms at the last second, he was pretty sure that his hands would have been blown clean off._

_That was truly a terrifying technique and one that the Uchiha was quite familiar with. He glanced back up at the blonde haired shinobi standing in his path of Team 7._

"_**I remember the last time he used those strange abilities against me,"** Sasuke spoke mindfully, recalling his previous engagement with this particular foe some time ago. **"I'd better keep my distance."**_

_The unknown shinobi, considering the situation carefully, took Sakura by the shoulder and gently moved her aside so that he was in front. He didn't need anyone to get involved at this point. It was not that they were getting in the way or anything like that. It was because this was his score that he wanted to settle. Considering that Sasuke was now far stronger than before, it was best that the others were out of harm's way for the time being._

_The pink haired kunoichi, still in a state of utter shock and bewilderment, did as she was bade by her silent protector and cautiously moved over to where Kakashi was standing. Team 7 seemed to back down completely in the face of this stranger and, instead of taking aggressive action on their part, opted to watch the confrontation._

_This person was obviously here to help. He did save Sakura from being impaled by the raven haired ninja's sword after all. That was good enough reason for them to stand down and take to the defensive._

_Frowning, Sasuke spun his chokuto in his hand and sheathed it back into its scabbard all-cool style. All the while his eyes remained fixated on his new target._

"_What do you want from me this time?"_

_The group, realizing he was now addressing the masked individual turned all their sights toward the blonde guardian still assumed in a protective stance._

_The abovementioned shinobi tilted his head, "Nothing… just a moment to talk…"_

_Sasuke huffed, narrowing his eyes further, "Out of the question. The last time I tried to speak with you, you were trying to kill me."_

"_I was under Lady Kasumi's control at that time, I didn't have much of a choice," the man replied plainly with little to no emotions in his words, "That was all just a big misunderstanding."_

"_Nevertheless, the fact that I still don't know who the hell you are warrants a grave amount of distrust from me," Sasuke snapped back, his eyebrows creasing in an agitated manner despite his monotone voice._

_The man in the mask sighed, "You're awfully picky today, aren't you?"_

_He had watched the entire confrontation from afar and everything that Sasuke had said to his friends, though cold and unforgiving at first, was all just asinine. It kind of bugged the blonde something fierce as to how annoying that was._

_It had to be karma._

_Even after two years the idiot failed to change even one bit. It made the blonde newcomer think that hanging out in the dark the entire time kind of had a funny effect on both his complexion **and** his character._

_Completely unhealthy!_

"_It's in my best interests not to get involved with somebody I don't know, let alone somebody who'd tried to kill me in the past, without good reason," Sasuke stated blankly, his eyes becoming overcast with displeasure. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I won't spare you anymore words until you tell me who you are." He draped his arm over the handle end of his sword and glared. This action ultimately steeled his resolve._

_Silence fell immediately afterwards._

_The masked individual of course responded with nothing, merely lowering his hands as an indication toward his conflicting thoughts on the matter. Team 7 and their mission's main goal before them remained quiet, unmoving and unflinching. They watched and waited patiently as their now main focus of attention calmly searched for his answer._

_The tense stand-off between all three parties dragged on like this for several minutes. All the while it felt as though that if somebody were to make any wrong or wasted movements, pandemonium and carnage would unfold in the blink of an eye._

_The reunion wasn't quaint at all. In fact, all sides had their fangs bared and raring to strike._

_It was only a matter of time._

…

…

…

_Not seeing an easy way out of this due to the limited options available to him, the blonde haired shinobi eventually relented._

_His shoulders shrugging in an audible sigh, he reluctantly reached up with his right hand and grabbed the edge of his mask. Sasuke reacted tensely to his movements, looking on in momentary surprise when he became aware of what the stranger was now doing. Even Team 7 froze up upon seeing the stranger take his facial covering and slowly pull it free from his face._

_Much to their surprise, the long, blonde hair he had adorned so convincingly on his cranium turned out to be just a wig covering his real hair, which revealed itself to be no different from the mullet only that it was just cut shorter and was more rounded. His spiky locks sprung free of the head covering and his face was revealed shortly afterwards when his disguise was brought away and down to his side._

_Everyone's hearts literally stopped for just a moment when they saw who it was._

_A small grin in play, whiskers on his cheeks and bright blue eyes shimmering in the sun…_

_Even the new members of Team 7 recognized that face on sight. After all, they'd heard so many stories about him._

"_Naruto?" Sakura whispered._

"_The one and only," the jinchuriki grinned, lowering his head at the still gawking Sasuke. "So… how's everyone been?"_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

**Author's Note:**_ I started off the Shippuden arc the same way the anime did; only I made one or two adjustments that makes the original encounter with Sasuke look pathetic. Kishimoto completely made Sasuke an ungodly powerful character, while at the same time making all of Naruto's hard training over the past two years all for naught. I hope he addresses this problem in the manga with a good final showdown between them while not favoring one character from the other, I honestly hope so._

_Number one, instead of speaking with Naruto, Sasuke addresses Sakura with a different response since the main character is absent. Throughout the whole series I always thought Sasuke and Sakura's relationship was really forced. She's too good for him and Sasuke is better off with somebody who shares the same history as him. So, I opted to settle the confusion between them when they were kids with a simple truth: Sasuke views Sakura as just a friend. Simple as that! Take the initiative._

_It's all part of an important point too. Sasuke is gathering power for his final showdown with Itachi, so as a consequence he addresses Sakura as a 'close friend', even a 'best friend' as a way of acquiring the Mangekyo Sharingan if he kills her so as to necessitate a traumatic experience even if it is forced, if not to rid himself of his past and gain more strength that way. He tried to do the same with Naruto at the Valley of the End in canon, but failed._

_It's a cutting of all his ties which ends in a standoff between Sasuke and Naruto._

_I hated the original first encounter after the gap. I just hated it. Sasuke was way too overpowered. If they're really rivals, than make it like Gray and Natsu: equals. In this story they're pretty much the same strength, although Naruto has much more experience from his adventures and a few more interesting techniques he'd learned, Tayuya too. I believe I wrote this properly._

_Prepare to be surprised for things to come. This is just a preview after all so the story's about to get good._

_Now, before the next chapter here is a question for the readers out of curiosity. Since I have an arc in mind, here's my question: **Would people like an arc in Temujin's country or would they prefer it if I kept it in the Shinobi Nations and just went on with Shippuden?**_

_Since this is just a flash-forward, there is enough room for a couple of arcs, including canon._


	17. Storm Clouds

**NARUTO**

_**Melody of the Wanderers**_

_Storm Clouds_

**Several Months Earlier…**

**Land of Lightning, Kumogakure…**

"Bah! I hate paperwork!"

Apparently, the spirit crushing plague known as office duties and document sighting was a mutual experience shared by all Kage of the shinobi nations, and not just the leaders around _Konohagakure_. As it turns out, things were just as bad for A up in his office positioned in the tallest, most recognizable structure overlooking the entire village, as it was for Tsunade further down south. Granted it was a great view, it was rather unfortunate that he was unable to enjoy it.

His back was turned to the window for a reason so that he could concentrate on signing absurd amounts of stock and supply slips, not to mention fees, mission reports, and other important documentation without distraction. It was stuff that would have been better off being dealt with in the administrative department. Unfortunately though, there was a lot of material that needed to be put past the Raikage first and it was really starting to get on his nerves.

Of course, in spite of all the bookwork and stamping, none of this was stopping A from getting out of shape. With a pen in his left hand and a dumbbell with stone weights in his right, while approving requisition forms for the medical staff down at the hospital, he was giving his biceps a good tuning up. With every form he signed he did a set of around twelve reps… and there were a LOT of forms to go through.

Grunting in between lifts, the man huffed to himself as he flung another paper with the end of his pen onto the outgoing pile, before pulling out a scroll from his to-do list and unfurling it with the same hand. Figuring he was done with his right, he transferred the dumbbell to his left and began pumping iron with that side to keep things even.

It was a good thing he was ambidextrous otherwise all of his efforts would have been a whole lot more troublesome for him.

"I ask the council to carry some of the load, yet somehow I still manage to get the bulk of it. Does every damn business in this village need my consent?" the Raikage shook his head, rolling the scroll back up before skillfully tossing it up onto the four foot stack of sheets he'd already completed. The rounded parchment landed directly on top and managed to stay without rolling off, a skill A had been developing for months now.

The bulky man with the ever-present agro expression sighed when he pulled the next document over. He felt like ramming his face into his desk, but kept this excess energy confined to his left hand as it went through another two dozen reps. "Another request for new robes for the clan heads? Really?"

Going through this stuff was getting old.

"I swear I'd already filled this one in two-hundred sheets ago. I have to tell those old dogs to stop splurging whenever they feel like it. I'm not running a damn supermarket here!"

Steaming over order after order, while also considering the idea of establishing a 'recycling' policy to limit his own workload, A was suddenly interrupted from his ordeal by the door to his office squeaking open. He looked up irritably to see the head of his assistant poke into view. As if checking to see if the coast was clear to save her own skin from being impaled or deep fried if the village leader was in one of his moods, the dark-skinned woman in the long-sleeved robes and her silver hair done up into a bun, stepped out from behind the doors and made her way over to the Raikage's desk.

The Raikage noted with a visible tick mark over his head that his assistant had another stack of papers wrapped securely in her arms. Before she could even lay a single sheet out in front of him or spout any introductions, the man pointed his pen in her direction, stopping her in her tracks.

"If that nitwit brother of mine has caused anymore trouble and there are requests to have walls rebuilt and properties renewed…"

Mabui gave the hulking man a half-smile, "Don't worry, Raikage-sama. There aren't any of _those_… at least… not in this collection anyway." She placed the stack down carefully, making sure the forms stayed together where they were before turning her attention to his outgoing pile. "This should be the last of the paperwork for today. Guess that means by tonight your weekend will be officially freed up."

The man grunted unenthusiastically and swiped another paper from his new pile. He skimmed through it quickly, "That's the idea."

Sighing, the assistant ran a hand through her hair before turning her gaze toward the setting sun through the wide open window, "Another day another dollar."

"Is there anything else that needs to be covered before I dismiss you, Mabui?" A inquired, glancing up at her.

The woman shook her head, "No sir. The last of the teams going out on missions have been cleared and all of the documents from administration that require your signature are all here."

Hearing this raised the larger man's spirits, even if he didn't show this outwardly. Regardless, he nodded his head, turned back to the file he had open and went on to signing, "If that's the case, then after you've taken this pile back down to admin you can head on home. I'll take care of the rest." Giving the sheet the good old John Hancock, he slapped it on top of the outbox stack and gave his assistant a firm gaze. "I'll be here for a little while longer."

The woman gave a courteous bow, "Of course, Raikage-sama." Taking the already bloated stack of documents off of the desk and moving it into a comfortable position in her arms, Mabui turned heel and prepared to head out.

Moving across the room for the exit, the kunoichi labored her steps to take a second glance of her pile to make sure she wasn't leaving anything behind. However, while doing so, her ears unexpectedly picked up on the telltale sounds of something she, in all her years of service to the Raikage in this very room and building, had never heard before. This abnormality was so faint that she had to stop completely to get a better angle on it, and upon steadying her breathing and ceasing all activities, was able to identify this echo as some sort of tune.

A's pen also stopped in mid-scribble. The moment his ears picked up on the ominous sounds seeping into the room the Kage ceased all actions, taking a few seconds longer to lower the dumbbell he was holding to the floor.

His gaze narrowed and his focus shifted upwards. At first his attention fell onto Mabui's back, but realizing that this melody wasn't coming from her, turned his gaze toward the walls surrounding him. His heightened senses allowed him to track the sounds on the wind, but as he continued searching for the invisible source, all signs started pointing him back towards the walls.

The Raikage was no fool.

Even though he was a shinobi capable of astonishing feats and had seen his fair share of weirdness over his time as a ninja with superhuman abilities, he knew full well that walls made of plaster didn't play flute music.

"W-What is that?" Mabui asked, bringing a hand up to her ear. The music was getting louder, "Is there a parade on?"

"No…" the Raikage replied gruffly, clicking his pen and putting it down. He rose to his feet, eyes fixing on the door, "This is something else!"

Instincts guiding them, both the kunoichi and the village leader focused on the entrance to the room. By this point in time, the flute music had become so loud that it was almost like the person playing it was standing in front of both of them. Of course, while the music was indeed lovely, anything out of the ordinary for a shinobi meant danger. This placed all able bodied personnel in the area on high alert, the two Kumo ninja readying themselves for whatever it was that was knocking on their front door.

Unfortunately, the thing that they were facing with was an entity of sound; an ability invisible to the naked eye. It was a rare practice even amongst shinobi.

This meant that the instant their ears picked up on the flute music being played from afar, it was already too late for them.

Seconds after their eyes had glued onto the door and the song being projected had climbed to a volume that made it seem like the room itself would start shaking itself apart, the world in front of them literally started to vibrate. Of course, this was only what they could consciously perceive with their own eyes.

Under the skin, all energy quickly started leaving their bodies as the underlying affects of the melody started to surface and mess with their consciousness. Their vision became twisted, distorted, blurred, and then, seconds into being enveloped by the piece, started to fade.

Mabui was hit first. The instant her world blacked out, she collapsed to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She crumpled under gravity, the pile of documents she was holding scattering across the floor.

The Raikage was hit soon after. Overcome by a descent number of verses from the melody the man's eyes became droopy, as did his point of view. His arms fell uselessly to his sides and his muscles felt as though they were giving out on him. A's legs shook as he staggered before finally falling back into his chair and giving in to the technique's lethal bullet. The hat he had proudly adorned atop his head fell away the instant he dropped, and his right arm draped over the top of his seat.

It was at that very moment that all occupants inside the room had hit the deck did the assassin finally make its move.

Under the light of the setting sun peaking through the clouds on the horizon, the door to the office opened up. It wasn't a dramatic or instantaneous opening, the doors just swung open like someone was just making a regular appointment. There was no haste to act or hurry to get the job done. It was purely business.

The moment the gateway was opened; two bodies fell into the room. They were the guards that were stationed up front, both of whom had also succumbed to the melody. It was once they were taken out of the equation and all obstacles had been removed from their path, the perpetrator made his entrance.

Stepping over the sleeping pair, the person almost covered the room completely in an ominous shadow as they marched their way to the village leader's desk. With a high-collared black cloak decorated in a red cloud and white outline pattern pulled over their shoulders, and straw hat with paper strips hanging from the edges and masking their face from view, the person came to stand in front of the Raikage's table.

A smirk appearing through the gap in the collar, the individual wearing the insignia of an enemy threw their right arm out. A curved blade with a design crossed between a katana and a khopesh, and flute holes cut all along the length of the blade with bells at the base, shot out like it was attached to a launcher. The person caught the sword at the handle and spun it, before grabbing it firmly and leaping onto the table.

Crouching like a cougar stalking its prey the individual cocked the sword back above their head with the blade pointed downwards. With an elevation similar to a scorpion tail, the intruder aimed for the Raikage lying slumped in the chair directly before them. The sight of the leader of one of the most powerful shinobi nations in the land sitting helpless in front of them was all the encouragement they needed to follow-through with their plan, and without mercy, the intruder slashed the blade across in an almost instantaneous slicing motion.

The blade flashed through the air with great speed, carving a clean arc right across Kumo leader's neck. And just like that, if the spray of blood was of any indication, it was all over…

That was, of course, right before the Raikage's unconscious body suddenly exploded in a cloud of blue smoke. Sparks of electricity showered the area around the desk.

The assassin smirked, their head instantaneously snapping towards the ceiling when an even larger shadow overcame them.

Diving from up high, white robe open and trailing through the air, A let out a battle roar as he plummeted straight down at his would-be killer. The individual in the cloak back-flipped out of the way just as the village leader dove fist first into his desk, the tabletop exploding in a shower of debris and what remained of his paperwork.

Landing on the floor a safe several feet of distance between them, the assassin with the curved sword took a crouching stance, watching as the impact zone cleared of dust and the Raikage rose from the small crater. Throwing his coat back with his thick arm braces flashing into view, A clenched his fists and bared his teeth at his attacker.

"Who are you?"

The assassin rose to their feet, still smirking confidently from behind the shadow of their straw hat and collar. Though it was a terrifying place to be, in line of sight of the most dangerous man in all of the _Land of Lightning_ in full fury, this person was willing to risk life and limb to confront this individual.

A flinched when his assassin flashed him that cocky grin, his eyes taking a moment to look over the person's attire.

It took him some time, but he was soon able to recall the images he remembered seeing in his file sorting from days prior, as well as the photos from his village's own watch-list. What with the lack of chatter from the other nations over the past couple of years he was honestly a little bit surprised to find a member of this particular organization standing right in front of him.

"You're a member of Akatsuki!" A shouted, his knuckles tightening and muscles popping as he clenched his fists. "There's no point in begging for my forgiveness now, scum. You can apologize for your perfidy in the afterlife!"

Not even waiting for a verbal response, the hulk of a man lunged at the assassin, intent on repainting his office walls with their insides. In the blink of an eye he was upon them, fist hooking through the air at full speed. He was instantly met with the assassin's blade colliding with his brace and redirecting his attack, sparks flying through the air as both the swift Akatsuki member and his opponent engaged in close combat. The Raikage angrily lashed out at his foe, his massive arms swinging around skillfully, attempting to hit his smaller opponent flipping and jumping around him.

Growling, A jabbed out, his opponent ducking and leaping off of his extended left leg, using it as a stepping post and back flipping, kicking off of the Raikage's chest in the process. The brawny man lashed out with a hook, watching his opponent flip backwards over it and land safely on the ground feet away. The cloaked figure came in spinning with their blade, clashing with the braces of the much larger fighter, dashing in to close distance.

Knocking another slash away from his attacker, sparks flying yet again, the Raikage yelled out and sent a corked up straight at his foe. The cloaked figure ducked and, stepping in with a spin, aimed to carve at the Raikage's neck again. A blocked, leaping back before immediately lunging in low, right arm extended outwards in a clothes-line tactic. His opponent swiftly brought his sword up in a cross block, hand pressed up against the back to reinforce the guard, with the mental of the cutting edge suddenly starting to vibrate.

The brace slammed with full force into the trembling blade, sparks flying and a loud, metallic hum filling the air as a result.

A's attack exploded against his opponent's sword, his foe flying back at full speed from the impact. The person in Akatsuki colors skidded across the floor to a stop, dust blanketing the air behind them as they took a position several meters away from the enraged Kage. They reassumed an offensive stance.

Retaking a stance himself, the Raikage blinked in bewilderment at the metallic humming noise filling his ears and ever growing in volume, pausing momentarily to look down at the right brace he had used to strike at his target. He saw that it was shaking like a musical triangle after being hit, something even he shivered to when the rest of his nervous system responded to the strange sensations.

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist to forcefully stop his trembling, he glared up at his waiting opponent.

"What kind of pathetic counter was that?"

He received no answer, the hired hand choosing to remain silent and steadfast.

The village leader spat while readjusting his stance, "Fine then! If that's how you want to play it!" Without forming a single hand seal, he mentally took a hold of his chakra and began bringing it out as he normally did. He was going to finish this figure off in one go. There was no way he was letting this drag out any longer than it already has. "I will admit that you're quick. But I'd like to see you try and dodge my lariat!"

This was it! If conventional attacks couldn't hit this person then he was going to have to shift it up a gear! Stepping forward, bolts of electricity began shooting out around him and striking the floor repeatedly, his lightning armor coming into play…

But then, just as he was getting into the swing of his main battle element, the only thing that occurred at the activation of his main jutsu was just a few sparks and sputters. A blinked in surprise when he felt his chakra leave him just as quickly as he started to bring it out, and looked down at his hands in shock.

Clenching his fists several times, he gritted his teeth. Though baffled at the obvious failure to activate his lightning armor, what was now really starting to get to him was that ridiculous metallic hum hanging in the air!

It was all around him! And the most irritating part of it all was that he felt like it was wrapped around him specifically!

It was like his body itself was emitting this noise.

"What?"

His chakra was refusing to come out. The lightning was a no show. Since this had never happened to him before, he just couldn't explain it. The Raikage growled as he tried to force it out again and again, but no matter how hard he tried he just could not get a handle over his own metaphysical abilities. He didn't know what it was, but it felt as though his chakra was being disturbed by some outside force.

Realizing that his attention had shifted, A looked up sharply to see his killer dash straight at him, blade flashing through the air. The bulky shinobi immediately dispersed of his efforts to try and bring out his lightning armor and instead, opted to keep this fight at close quarters.

His brace guarded against the swift sword slashes that came at him again, sparks flying with every intercept. With a loud growl, he batted away another strike, knocking his enemy's sword arcing through the air. Upon disarming his swift foe he then sliced at her with a body hook. But his masked quarry, quick as ever, took to the air in response, flipping repeatedly and landing feet up on the ceiling. They dashed back across the roof, catching the sword flying toward them and spinning it upon having it returned.

A roared and leapt at his upside-down attacker, burying his fist into the roof and watching his opponent drop back down to ground level. He pursued relentlessly in a thunderous charge, his fists hooking through the air and closing in on the darting shadow with red clouds.

Leaping away to avoid a kick, the cloaked assassin performed various flips on one hand, before landing and sliding to a stop. Achieving balance, the masked shinobi then suddenly tossed a barrage of kunai at the Raikage.

Catching the flashes of projectiles, A effortlessly batted the flying knives aside, causing more sparks to fill the already intense atmosphere.

It was immediately upon doing so his opponent flickered out of view from several meters ahead, before instantaneously reappearing directly behind him. The Raikage followed his movements with his eyes, gritting his teeth and spinning around. A back fist was his greeting.

"Don't underestimate me!" the enraged man bellowed, his knuckles aiming to take his opponent's head off. The Akatsuki member ducked at the very last second.

Instead of having their head taken off, the steel cuff on the Raikage's forearm took his foe's hat away, ripping it to shreds. The force behind his full powered strike ripped the office apart. The floorboards splintered and the glass to his office window shattered as the shockwave reverberated across the room, with his wall exploding into a shower of plaster as the grand finale. The straw hat he managed to hit disintegrated in the chaos.

The Raikage growled angrily, watching his crouching foe leap away and land safely atop of the ruins of his destroyed desk. Stray paperwork lifted into the air and blew around the cloaked figure, their hand slapped across their face showing that they were stunned even after dodging the attack. Long red locks of hair hung down over the figure's shoulders, and waved on the wind coming in from the now open windows.

Eclipsing the sun, all color on the masked figure became mixed in with a bright glow of orange.

A rose to his feet sharply, shaking his fist at the intruder, "Did you think you could come in here and try to snuff me out? Fool! All you've managed to do was seal your own fate!"

Despite his threats, the village leader knew he could not take this person lightly. True to rumor, this foe was definitely proving to the Raikage that the Akatsuki Organization was certainly made up of S-Ranked shinobi. Not just any ninja could hold their own against him and this person was making him sweat.

"_To neutralize my ability to control my chakra… and able to go toe to toe with me in close-combat, this one is dangerous,"_ A thought, stepping further forward as his opponent straightened up completely with their hand still covering their face. _"I must defeat him here and now, or he will become an even greater threat in the future."_

However, before A could act any further, his opponent decided to reveal himself to the world. Sword held firmly at their side, the cloaked individual lowered their hand from their face while also brushing their hair out of their eyes. With the strands no longer obscuring his view, the assassin locked their best glare on the village leader glaring straight at him.

It was the sight of the person's face that had the Raikage immediately stop and stare. His jaw became slack when he was able to catch a glimpse of the fiend that was hiding behind the cover of paper strips from the hat that they had worn, but was now gone.

Though there was a shallow bruise above their eye from being grazed by that last hit, that irritating smirk was still there.

"Y-You're… a woman?" A choked.

The redhead grinned even wider, spinning her sword and catching it with complete confidence in her movements.

Without a single word spoken, she threw her left hand behind her in a backhanded motion, a blast of invisible energy exploding from her palm. The sonic wave hit what was left of the mangled window frames over her shoulder and, as a result, the section of wall and windows that were sitting directly behind the desk exploded outwards. Debris and rubble showered down from the Raikage's office to soon disappear into the blanket of clouds far below.

A saw what she was intending to do and growled, "Oh, no you don't!" He lunged forward at full speed, intent on stopping her.

"_**Kongō fukyōwaon!"** _(Mixed Dissonance) the kunoichi shouted, a blast of invisible energy then exploding from her entire body and rippling across the room.

The Raikage ran headlong into it, staggering back when his muscles unexpectedly started to spasm. Eyes widening, he fell to his knee and grabbed the side of his head with an expression of pure shock appearing on his face. Whatever it was that hit him, it felt as though the insides of his skull were just shoved into a vortex, a mixture of both despair and rage overwhelming him. His jaw tightening to bite back the physical pain, it took all of his willpower alone to simply maintain his consciousness as he glared furiously in his attacker's direction.

"W-What kind of trickery is this?" This was nothing like any technique he'd ever experienced before. Shit, had he been able to conjure up his lightning armor from the get go A was pretty sure he would have been able to block this out no problem.

However, without his shield or his chakra to provide him with an extra buffer, his body was left wide open. This wasn't a physical attack designed to pound the outside of the body, it was a blade made to strike at the inside through the ear canals.

Without any way to counter against an attack developed to screw with a person's mentality, the Raikage was left winded, if only for a moment.

The redhead smiled, saluting the man brought to his knees before leaping through the hole she had blasted into the side of the building. Arms spread out she skydived back first out the makeshift entrance thousands of meters above the ground, disappearing seconds later into the thick cloud cover far below.

With that, the Akatsuki assassin was gone.

Getting his body back under control and shaking off the trauma inflicted to his emotional state that had been causing his body to convulse, the Raikage rolled his shoulders and marched over to the window. Grabbing the ruined framework he glared down towards the base of the mountain to search for his retreating killer, only to be met with the sheets of white that were the clouds drifting through the high ranges, the terrain of his village.

Though he hated to admit it, this one was one clever customer. Though she didn't clip him with any of her attacks save for that last one, the village leader managed to get in a graze of his own as payment in return. It was probably that small niche that forced her to retreat in the end. Because she didn't bother risking finishing him off even when she had him at her mercy, she chose the other, safer option available to her and that was to flee.

This pissed the Raikage off something fierce. The fact that she chose to run meant that this attack wasn't just something to gain the village's immediate attention, but _his_. This meant that he was just playing the role of a chess piece in whatever grander plan this group in the shadows was concocting.

Not that they were hiding out in the shadows anymore, if this attempt on his life was of any indication.

Whichever way he chose to look at this event, the end results were clear to him. He fended her off and she ran for it. She may have failed in taking his life but had inadvertently succeeded in gaining his complete attention.

The groans coming from behind told A that both the guards and Mabui, all of whom had been knocked out by the charms of his would-be killer, were starting to come around. The office assistant was the first to get back to her feet and by the time her eyes had fallen back onto her boss after a quick scan of the office, the village leader had already come to a resolution.

"It looks like they're finally starting to make their move," the Raikage muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the still disorientated looking woman. "This will be the first of many."

"D-Did you get a good look at the assailant, Raikage-sama?" Mabui asked, her voice slurring briefly. She shook her head to clear her mind and straightened up, "What did he look like?"

The large man huffed and glared back out the window, "The assassin was a woman… and _no_." Baring his canines, the man slammed his fist against a still standing frame of the shattered window and smashed it in. Glass fragments scattered over the carpet in perfect synchronization with his mood, "Dammit! That sly worm used the sunset behind her to cast a shadow across her face and obstruct my view! I couldn't even tell what her hair color really was!"

Was it red or brown? Either way the glare from her body eclipsing the sun made it too difficult to make out.

"That's not much to go on," Mabui replied with a frown, now starting to doubt the investigation she was planning out in her head. The now conscious guards from the front door secured the perimeter, checking to make sure there was no one else hiding in the shadows.

A frowned, his fists still locked tightly, "No it isn't, but I know for certain that it was Akatsuki who was responsible for this outrage! How can anyone be stupid enough to miss a cloud pattern as pronounced as that one? Those mongrels!" Throwing his arm down from the bent fixture, the bulky man spun around and glared across at his aid, "Rally all active shinobi! Block all entrances and exits to this village, and scour the countryside! _**Do not**_ let that woman escape! Look out for anyone wearing a black cloak with red cloud patterns!"

His yelling jumpstarted the two guards currently in the room back into action. They saluted their leader in acknowledgement before quickly shunshining out of there to carry out their tasks. This left Mabui to face the rest of her Kage's orders.

A huffed and turned back around while placing his hands on his hips, "Get a message out to _Konohagakure_. Tell them that we've made first contact."

Even though he felt it wasn't completely within his interests to play along with the Hidden Leaf, after an event like this, he was willing to kick the ball around a little and see where it went. He was pretty pissed after all, so he could allow a few unlocked doors at this point.

Konoha sent those notices out to the other villages for a reason; these shinobi from Akatsuki were powerful. A was now more willing to believe the details of that message, especially after fending off what he believed to be S-Class abilities first hand.

'_Watch out for shinobi dressed in black robes with red cloud patterns.'_ The notice contained a brief description of the group's attire, the identity of a couple of known members, the manner in which they traveled, and their goals.

It was that last thought that had the Raikage frown unnervingly. "And send _Team Samui_ to check on my idiot brother up on his mountain top to see if he's still alive. If he is, bring him in…Yugito too. I'll need to fill them in on this development."

"Of course," Mabui bowed, turning heel and making haste for the door.

Just as she arrived at the entrance, the Raikage glanced back around at her, "Send a message out to the rest of the hidden villages as well."

Mabui stopped and looked over her shoulder, "Sir?"

A's brow narrowed, "If Akatsuki attacked _me _directly as a means to avert my gaze from the jinchuriki for even a moment, then chances are attempts will be made on other delegates' lives either as part of a greater strategy to capture the jinchuriki or a means to do other countries damage." He looked back around and out toward the now disappearing sun. "I'm sure that _Konohagakure_ will want to hear about this."

Blinking, the office assistant nodded affirmatively and left.

Now standing amongst the wreckage of what was left of his work space, the leader of Kumogakure cracked his knuckles at the same time as he clenched his fists, emitting yet another irate growl. Though he was relieved to have walked out of this with his body and life completely intact, it was the fact that he had to fight so hard that made him all the more frustrated. This debacle inflicted a huge blow upon his pride as a shinobi who'd worked so hard for so many years, through both peace and war, to refine his skills.

Nobody pulled a fast one over the Raikage! Nobody!

"_Damn that woman!"_ the man thought as he grounded his teeth loudly, _"If I get another chance… I'll deal with __**her**__ myself!"_

Unwittingly, he was thinking in an almost similar manner to another shinobi he knew nothing about. Either way he was intent on keeping this promise…

XXX

**Three days later…**

**Otogakure, Undisclosed Location…**

The sound of a rushing waterfall over the entrance of a cave was the only real clue as to where this hidden base belonging to Orochimaru was placed. Aside from the dull rays of sun creeping in through the wall of water cascading over the side of the cliff, the only other lights present in the chamber were the flickering flames of torches on the shadowy walls.

As tranquil as the natural sounds were falling freely without impediment, they did little to suppress the ominous tone of the environment.

Sitting cross-legged on a raised platform at the end of the cave, amidst the cluttered mess of tiles and stalactites, the obscured form of one Sasuke Uchiha sat quiet and content. Staring through the darkness with his knee pulled up to his chest, the raven haired boy allowed a scowl to darken his gaze as he glared at the wall of white and blue constantly changing shape away from him.

This place was his hideaway, a room for relaxation, contemplation and meditation. It also provided him with a shield from the rest of the world beyond, something that also allowed him to forget about the people he was actually serving.

He had recently been put under a lot of stress from both running errands and training under Orochimaru's supervision. He could count himself lucky for having a place like this for some time off before his next assignment. However, he didn't join the Snake Sannin's band of weirdoes just to lounge about like he was on vacation. His purpose was far greater than that.

He'd be damned if he was going to let an opportunity like this one pass him by.

Feeling the need to blow off some steam by testing out his latest variation to his lightning techniques, the teenager rose to his feet. Throwing off the sheets draped over his shoulders, he marched over to the falls at the entrance of the cave.

His echoing footsteps coming to a stop, the Uchiha stood before the waterfall and glared into it. Ignoring the bit of perspiration dripping down his face, he shook his head and extended his right hand towards the wall of water. Bracing his wrist with his left, he assumed a low horse riding stance, at the same time sticking his limb into the cold rain now pounding down on his forearms.

Assured he was in the ideal position, the boy furrowed his brow in a show of exerting effort. Projecting his focus outwardly, his eyes snapped open, in which he then glared ahead of him with full intent.

"_**Chidori Nagashi!"**_

The sound of chirping birds sparked up, followed by a sudden flash of blue light as electricity completely sheathed his extended hand. A split second later lightning began coursing up and down the waterfall.

In the blink of an eye, kiloliters upon kiloliters of rushing water was literally vaporized into a cloud of steam exploding outwards and engulfing the entire canyon dominated by the waterfall and the lake far below. Anything within the vicinity would have either been electrified by the Chidori coursing through the water or scolded from the heat of the steam blasting into the air.

It all happened in an instant.

Seconds after the technique was executed, the unnatural phenomenon quelled itself and peace returned to the small valley.

Sasuke, with his arm still extended through the water, allowed his hand to relinquish itself from the vertical river and reassumed a normal standing position. Shrugging his white robe back up his shoulder he turned to march his way back over to his den.

Before he could even make it a few feet forward, he immediately stopped in his tracks and glared over his shoulder. There, at the small entrance at the side of the waterfall, Sasuke saw a very familiar face suddenly step into view from the shadows of the hidden path beyond.

Though it wasn't like the cave was completely cut off from the outside world, it was merely obscured. Only those familiar with the valleys making up the _Village Hidden in the Sound_ could really find their ways around here. This 'guest' as Sasuke referred to him albeit a mild disgruntlement was no exception.

"What is it?"

The young man wearing the purple garb and round sunglasses, smiled sinisterly under the shadow of his silver hair, and nudged his spectacles further up his nose when they slid down.

"Lord Orochimaru has a mission for you that calls for your immediate attention."

The boy frowned, not even sparing a moment to turn for his master's lackey to give him any kind of thoughtful acknowledgement. "If it's so important then why not do it himself?"

Kabuto cleared his throat, "Unfortunately, master is bedridden… bad flu I'm afraid. That means the majority of the workload falls upon the two of _us_."

"At least get one of his other cronies on station to carry this one. Maybe even Guren. If you can't tell from looking, I'm on temporary leave." And here he thought he was done with all of this nurse-boy stuff. If this was going to be another back-and-forth, routine chore inside of this small-ass country, consider his next step taken his resignation. "Go away."

"That's your choice," Kabuto chuckled, pocketing one of his hands. "You should be grateful that you're being showered with so much attention from Lord Orochimaru. Consider it an honor."

"Not to sound pessimistic, but I take his 'praise' just as well as I take the stuff that I occasionally pick up with my sandals in the gutter," Sasuke replied callously while tightening his glare. "I'm only doing this to meet my ends, _not_ _his_."

The medical man smirked, shaking his head. "Such severity, and here I thought you'd finally grown fond of us."

He was met with further intent to maim. Regardless, Kabuto held his ground and smiled back as pleasantly as he could. After all, being on the receiving end of a lot of Orochimaru's anger over his many years of service had allowed him to build up a sort of immunity to pretty much any aura that spelled certain doom and consequence on his head. Though Sasuke's was quite impressive, he knew that the boy wouldn't act out lest receive a scolding from his master personally.

He was unquestionably strong, but at this stage… he wasn't quite there. Not yet anyway.

Kabuto's knowledge over this allowed him to continue acting smoothly without fear, and maybe even exploit later down the line. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Just tell me what the mission specs are and go," Sasuke grumbled back, looking ahead of him, "Otherwise… _happy hunting_."

The man in glasses chuckled, "Out of the question. This task falls way outside of my parameters. Besides, Orochimaru needs my expertise elsewhere. I'm only here in my capacity as a messenger."

"_Figures,"_ Sasuke thought begrudgingly. He'd have preferred a pigeon or a hawk; at least they didn't stink up the place. It was only his bad luck that he was getting the snake's chew toy. _"I'm going on this mission regardless of my choice or feelings on the matter."_

"I know what you're thinking… and yes… as I said so before, it's urgent," Kabuto replied, taking in the teen's facial expressions. Familiarity was all that was needed for him to read ahead, which also contributed to his relaxed state of person.

Not letting his comrade's attitude get the better of him, the Uchiha listened in with open ears undeterred, "Give it to me straight then."

The spy lowered his head with a small frown drawn across his lips, a clear sight that was saying it was time to get down to business. Masks off, full make up.

"We received reports that a group of shinobi we had initially believed to be scattered for the time being has finally resurfaced on the grid," Kabuto began, his words serious and lacking any of their usual swaggering tones. It was the first thing the Uchiha picked up on that allowed him to listen in without feeling bothered at the same time, "They've already made some aggressive moves against some of the smaller nations to the north and south as well as against the big five; including assassination attempts on the Raikage _and_ the Mizukage." He shrugged his shoulders at those titles and who each of those belonged to. "Needless to say… they were both lucky to get out alive."

Sasuke grunted and closed his eyes, "And how is that my problem? So a rebel group is causing the bigger countries some back problems, big deal."

Kabuto smirked, "I would think that you would be more interested in what I have to say next." This didn't even make the Uchiha flinch. However, the messenger went on with his report whether or not the boy was listening, shuffling about a little so as to get a better projection angle on his one-person audience. "Both village leaders have sent out watch-notices for the assassins. So far, the group's targets have only been high-ranking officials in the smaller and larger nations, yet so far there haven't been _any_ severe casualties."

It was a laughable concept, yes; assassins going out to kill targets but not actually succeeding in any of their attempts. This only meant two things to Sasuke; either the hired guns causing the big guys trouble were complete cowards who didn't want to cause any upheavals or didn't want to get their hands dirty, or the so-called hit men weren't being paid enough to do their jobs. If it was in the case of the latter, then they needed to get better agents.

Sasuke kept his eyes shut, "And how does this affect us?"

It was a discomforting question, but the man had to answer, "The survivors of the assassination attempts all claim that one of players that went after the Kage has been using sound as a means of knocking out her targets before making a move on them. So, taking this evidence into account, it means that the fingers in every single shinobi country surrounding us have been pointed squarely in _our_ direction."

Of course Orochimaru and Kabuto had something to worry about. Their main base of operations was situated in this country's heartland. Sure they had dozens of other institutes scattered across the shinobi nations, this place was their personal stronghold; their last area of refuge and the only land where they could possibly find a real safe haven. If any of the shinobi nations surrounding them decided to mount a proper investigation and any of their agents were found out, than it could either end up as a small cut to their finger, or a major blow to Orochimaru's entire operation.

Because they were mostly underground they were still safe for the time being. But there was always that small, minute chance that some unwanted pests from another country could catch wise to their movements and plans, and that was something that they didn't need.

The Uchiha cracked an eye, but kept his attention locked on the shadows of his cave. All evidence to the contrary, he wasn't entirely convinced. "What are you so worried about? It's not like you can't move house whenever something drastic happens on your turf. Just take it as a minor inconvenience and deal with the problem."

"It's not that simple," Kabuto murmured with a half-smirk. He was waiting for the discussion to lead up to this, "The assassins have revealed themselves to be members of Akatsuki."

If the information preceding this piece didn't, then these words definitely got some life out of the young Uchiha.

Eyes widening, the raven haired boy sharply glared in Kabuto's direction, a sight that confirmed the spy's suspicions that this entire time, the prodigy had been on the lookout for any information in regards to his older brother. He knew that Itachi was a part of a gang that walked around dressed in black cloaks with red clouds on them. That much was clear. The only problem to this day was that the members of this gang were incredibly difficult, damn near impossible, to track down.

I mean, how hard was it to find a group of ten, now nine thanks to Orochimaru's defection, who dressed in fancy getup like that on a continent filled with weary eyes?

They had to come out sometime.

Of course, Kabuto swore to himself to make no mention of his occasional meetings with Sasori. That was his trial by fire to get meddled up in, not the Uchiha's.

But now, after two years of watching, waiting and hard training, looking out for a chance to drive a stake through one of the organization's most prominent members, lo and behold, a sign!

Sasuke's eyes showed fire that Kabuto knew burned brightly in spite of his normally docile character.

"_Bingo…"_

"Apparently, one of the newest members of their little gang uses sound as their main battle element. Anymore _noise_ from that one and we'll be having angry Kage breathing down our necks in the next few weeks," the spy exclaimed, tapping his glasses again. "I think that this was the 'window of opportunity' you've been waiting for."

Unflinching, the Uchiha glared back into the cave ahead. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two, with Orochimaru's right-hand crony wondering whether it was such a good idea to spill the beans so suddenly to their most unpredictable asset. There was always a good chance the teen would cut it and run. However, the reason why Kabuto had survived for so long was that he was a man of knowledge, a walking library who knew many things. If there was something he didn't know he would find out about it. It was the reason why he knew that Sasuke wouldn't just dice up his contract with their master just yet.

There were still some resources he could leach off of them. While they were all too happy to supply the self-proclaimed avenger with all the necessities he requested, they also made sure to share any information with him in small doses.

Kabuto believed that, though this was indeed information related to Itachi, he knew that Sasuke was smarter than this.

He was a genius for one other reason other than possessing the qualities of a person who could learn ninjutsu on the fly with a mere bat of his eye and could resist the most toxic of serums after the first injection. The kid was passive and calculating. His quest for vengeance aside, he definitely learned more than enough from his most recent encounter with his older brother all those years ago. It's put him on a much higher level of experience today then what he was back then.

The spy received his answer moments later.

"I'll take the mission."

Kabuto grinned and pulled a scroll out from his pocket, "Excellent." He wordlessly tossed it towards the teen, who caught it from over his shoulder. "Your job is to find the Akatsuki member that uses sound techniques and to snuff her out. If there's any connection between her and us, see to it that all evidence of _that_ is erased."

He watched the boy roll open the scroll from afar, observing him as he read the opening statements before pocketing his hands. The spy continued to wear his smile comfortably across his lips, enjoying the possibilities of this particular game about to unfold.

"You can chase up any information in regards to your older brother if you want," Kabuto continued, sliding his spectacles up his nose, "Although, even if you can, I wouldn't recommend it. All members of this group are shinobi with abilities and skills that are equal to if not even greater than Orochimaru-sama's. I suggest caution…"

The Uchiha stopped his reading, taking a moment to look over at the pansy behind him. The man in purple shrugged his shoulders and turned heel, making his way out of his damp environment, which seemed to be getting damper by the minute. The prodigy wasn't exactly giving off an aura of welcoming.

"However, Orochimaru-sama was the one who gave you this mission, so who am I to pass on any suggestions. Our master has complete faith in you, so I'm sure you know what to do," the man sung, waving inattentively over his shoulder. "Good luck."

The roaring sounds of the waterfall covered up his vacating of the vicinity. Amongst the pissing rain that was the cascade, Sasuke remained where he was with the scroll spread open in front of him. It was after watching his most uninvited guest leave his presence did he turn his attention back to the mission he was given.

Drinking in all of the details the document was entailing, the teen then rolled it up and stuffed it into his pocket. He allowed his normally stoic expression to overcome him before returning to his temporary bedspread.

"_After this, perhaps I will finally be able to find some measure of peace knowing that I have avenged my family,"_ the Uchiha thought to himself, disappearing into the shadows of the cave.

XXX

**Two nights later…**

In a mountainous region many miles south of _Kumogakure_, there sat a large trading town nestled comfortably in a small, lush valley surrounded by evergreen forests. It was here the lines of trade running throughout the lower parts of the country intersected, including the new transit system still under construction. At first this marvel had started out as something insignificant, first seen by shinobi as a technical achievement in the _Land of Snow_. However, upon reaching the attention of the lords and noblemen of the nations further south, this ground-breaking railway system was quickly ordered into production.

Though the line through the _Land of Lightning_ was completed here, as well as in other nations connecting them to the rest of the world, there was still much more that needed to be done. There were of course some nations outside of the hype who didn't like the idea of such convenient trade, and continued to rely on horseback, convoys, runners and shinobi for their long distance dealings. However, this new system was still just one more amongst many, and something that one particular individual was using to their advantage.

There was an apartment situated close to the train station. Up on the third floor, in a disused room built for one with nothing but a satchel, two empty bowls of ramen sitting on the table, and a dim light illuminating a tiny living room with a fold-out bed, sitting on the windowsill and looking out over the tracks, sat an ominous figure. Dressed in a black cloak with red clouds on it, the kunoichi who currently had the attention of some of the most powerful figures in the shinobi nations was perched inside of the frame, enjoying the breeze and staring out across the world spread out in front of her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the girl reached into her sleeve and fumbled around for a moment, seconds before pulling out a flute. The silver pipe, which she had held on to for all these years, baring the scars from countless battles, flashed under the light of the moon. Considering it for a moment, she then brought it up to her lips and began playing a song she had started composing not too long ago.

The sound of beautiful music filled the air and carried on the wind. Above the hustle and bustle in the streets, the wailing of the train's whistles and the chugging of their powerful engines, Tayuya played her melody under the starry night sky. Even though there wasn't anyone here with her to listen to her music, she played all the same. This was something she wanted to do.

After all, it was a present; one that she was making for a special someone close to her heart.

It was after completing three sheets worth of notes she then stopped at a crucial juncture, and pulled out a notebook from her pocket.

Flicking it open, she turned it to a page in which she had already jotted down several lines of musical notes. Finding a space, she then continued on with the work she had previously left unfinished. Judging from the amount of writing she had already stuffed into it, this wasn't the first of her masterpieces.

Biting on the tip of the pen she had included with it, she went on compositing her song. Getting about five minutes into it, Tayuya was suddenly interrupted from her activities by the reappearance of a familiar face. She smiled when she noticed a bushy tail brush over the edge of her book and lowered it to see her other traveling companion smiling back at her on the same window frame. The kunoichi saw that the fox had several papers in its mouth, and giggled when she reached out to relinquish them from her.

She petted her friend gratefully, "Thanks Luka."

The fox barked happily. Acknowledging her reply with a biscuit treat, the red haired goddess then took a moment to look at the papers she was provided. Though the content was all bad news, it was satisfying to know that it wasn't all about her. The grin that appeared on her face said it all.

"Well, it looks like Akatsuki has finally made it onto the front page, just like we planned," Tayuya exclaimed, tapping the documents with an impressed smirk, "Damn, this is some good correspondence."

Somehow, Luka had managed to swipe a bunch of letters from the runners making rounds between villages, delivering notices about the organization responsible for all the hubbub going on. Since it must have been really difficult relieving those hardworking postmen of their baggage, Tayuya felt that she had to give her little friend a bit more credit for her efforts.

She petted her companion again as she nibbled away on her biscuits while at the same time her eyes skimmed through all the major and minor details of the information slips in her hands.

After getting all the info she needed she scrunched up the papers and tossed them into her room. There was no sense hanging onto them anymore since all she needed was an update on the situation to know just how much more carefully she needed to tread from now on. This however allowed her to focus back on her current task and think about the next stage of her plans.

Hearing a whimper, Tayuya turned to look down at Luka, where she saw the little critter place her paw against her leg and gave the girl a worried look. At least, it was what the kunoichi first perceived as a worried look, and one which she was remarkably able to understand completely.

Returning it with a half-smile, the kunoichi reached out and scratched her friend behind the ear. "Don't worry Luka, I'm certain Naruto-kun knows what he's doing," the redhead whispered, earning an uncharacteristic purr from the troublemaker. "Even though he told me he could handle this particular job by himself, on this road, as with every other one the two of us have already walked down, I still want to meet him halfway."

Rubbing her friend's head, the fox's tail wagged happily and she yipped out in delight.

Tayuya chuckled in response, "Yeah, he's an idiot. But he's the idiot that _I_ fell in love with."

What else could she do then help speed things along? All their actions were a part of a much grander scheme. The only thing she really felt uncomfortable about was the possibility of all the heat they were probably going to catch for this sticking to them.

After all, they weren't just pissing off a bunch of old guys and village leaders. They had other fish they needed to toss onto the spit…

And believe it or not, these were fucking enormous fish…

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Many miles elsewhere…**

With darkness drawn like a curtain across the room hiding the many intricate details of carpet, pillars and galleries of a once lavish hall, situated at the very end up against a high wall covered in seals, there sat a throne. On top of this throne, illuminated by an eerie light shining down from the ceiling above, was a stranger. From a distance this resident appeared as nothing but a silhouette, blending into the ruined chair and covered up in more ways than one.

The shadows obscured much of her appearance. Beneath the shade of cold and black, she wore white temple robes with red lacing, intricate linings and bands, had raven black hair growing down to her waist and wore what appeared to be an ANBU mask. This porcelain face was the other layer concealing her true identity, with the shadows negating her presence considerably. There were many more levels of concealment above these, but these ones were the key barriers, the ones she'd worn for much of her existence.

Hands placed upon her lap as she knelt atop of her podium, the young priestess gazed through the darkness of her hollow. There was not a single soul standing in her presence nor was there a single living being in the castle she inhabited, save for one.

"Servant!"

This one came to her in the blink of an eye when she raised her hand to summon him. Footsteps echoed across the hall when the figure approached her from the darkness and came to stand before her at the foot of the steps leading up to her post. The figure dressed in black bowed to her very shadow on his knees, hand placed grandly across his chest.

"I must keep you close to me from now on," the young woman spoke, her voice echoing throughout the chamber as if the walls themselves were amplifying her voice. The servant she had called barely seemed to register to her commands, yet continued to listen to her words as they came to him from all around. "I sense that a great threat is drawing nearer. You, as my only friend and most important resource, must now become my eyes and ears within this bastion."

The figure looked up towards the light, revealing long blonde, spiky hair like the Fourth Hokage's hanging from his head, and purple eyes glowing brightly through the slits of his Kiri _Hunter Nin_ mask. The bloody smile drawn upon it and the orange trim of his coat were the most prominent details of the uniform on his person standing out of his dim surroundings.

It was obvious he was possessed, now a mere puppet of the former self he used to be weeks before.

It didn't take a genius to know who it was that was controlling him.

The woman in the mask, sitting comfortably on her throne, smiled, "My conquest of this world will begin very soon. Can I count on your continued, unwavering services to me as your princess?"

The person in the mask nodded, bowing even lower.

"Yes… Lady Kasumi."

At this point you're probably thinking to yourself; oh dear…

What kind of mess has Naruto gotten himself into this time?

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And so, this marks the beginning of the Shippuden Arc. I wanted to get to this point soon so as to not keep you guys waiting any longer than you have to. As for the adventures in Temujin's country, I may continue that as a separate story or include it as a series of flashbacks. A separate story seems like a better idea.

As you can see, I started the series a little bit differently from canon. Instead of returning to his village like every other fic, Naruto has started his comeback in a different light.

I'll leave you clever readers to figure out what kind of game he's playing. If anyone can figure it out, I will give those reviewers the coveted 'Thumbs Up'.

If any of you haven't figured it out yet, I use _**Lady Kasumi**_ of _**Princess Dusk**_ from the Naruto Castle Dusk game in a lot of my stories. Because she was part of her own story not from the canon plotline, I see the perfect opportunity to use her as freely as I wish. Because she is a character created for a game, she is not an original character. She has a lot of potential as either a supporting character or an antagonist as seen in the game. In this case, she's playing the antagonist.

Watching the fifth Shippuden movie, I was inspired to write the assassination attempt on A. A is a brawling Raikage, preferring direct combat to using other jutsu and throwing weapons. Plus, before any of you say Tayuya is overpowered at this point, I'll say this now, _**she has acquired a new technique that will be revealed in the next chapter that puts her at an advantage above other shinobi.**_ It doesn't mean she's overpowered, even though she displayed great skill. She wouldn't be able to kill A even with this advantage. The guy is built like a tank.

Also, his response to the threat of Akatsuki and warning the other villages I felt was pretty reasonable. He collaborated with Konoha in the Fifth Shippuden Movie to stop that Box thing and was willing the work with the other villages when the Akatsuki took his brother. A personal attack against him would definitely be a big wake up call.

Don't be surprised if the story starts revolving around Sasuke in the following chapters, I'm handling this one a little bit differently. Of course I won't deny you readers the pleasure of seeing Naruto and Tayuya and their relationship, just bear with me for the moment. I'm handling this like DMC 4, where the story focused on the less cool character Nero first before focusing back on the awesome character Dante.

This is getting exciting.


	18. Spirited Away

**NARUTO**

_**Melody of the Wanderers**_

_Spirited Away_

**Two Days later…**

**Yugakure…**

Talk about one heck of a cross-country walk.

Finding safe passage across borders into another person's country nowadays seemed to be a lot harder than Sasuke remembered them to be. Maybe that was because he was a missing ninja now with the print 'wanted man' slapped across his forehead like a god damn headlight. This meant that he had to be extra discreet about his actions, no matter where he went.

To be quite frank, his past infiltrations into restricted and well guarded areas have never been this tense, and if he felt troubled from a mere border hopping, then that meant there was definitely something wrong. He actually had to duck and weave quite a high number of surveillance teams on his way into the _Land of Hot Water_, which was just one step over from the country he was currently residing in.

Even after losing the local guard inside of the thickened forests surrounding the land he still had to contend with the individual patrolmen routinely checking up on the various dead spots outside of the regular scouting routes. He thanked his heightened senses for allowing him to hide out from the random shinobi that just suddenly popped up on his radar.

However, after getting through the borders and past the tree line, the rest of his journey toward _Yugakure_ continued on like it was a mere leisurely stroll through the park. Keeping his head low and attitude cool, he followed the main road leading him into the village, ignoring all of the farmers and tradesmen that passed him by along the way in.

Admittedly, it had been a while since he had last set foot in the popular hot spring town, so it came as a bit of a surprise to him to see just how much development had actually gone on since he was last here. Just from standing within sight of the village and its buildings he was able to see how much had actually changed.

The village as a whole was an amazing thing, especially when you started walking about town and taking in the sights. Being a hot spring village, a place where ordinary people and delegates from all corners of the continent came to cool off after a hard, extended period of work, it was essentially a tourist hot spot. The cultural and ecological diversity was simply astonishing. The number of patrons the place took in was abnormally high so it was a safe bet to say that over half of the actual population of _Yugakure_ was made up of tourists. The rest of the population would have mostly been comprised of shinobi providing security and enforcement to the area.

Since there were so many outsiders coming and going, it only made sense. It wasn't like the town wasn't filled with its own residents born and raised here; it was just that the real number of civilians actually living in this village and claiming it as their home was boosted by the number of visitors.

When it came to supporting the local community, everybody had a part to play. Hotels were packed, hot spring facilities were loaded, and the market places were busy as hell. Amongst the families, couples and groups of indiscernible villagers walking about, you would eventually come across one or two _Yugakure_ shinobi walking about on patrol, on the lookout for any would-be troublemakers. However, as far as order and obedience went, compared to other villages this town was pretty tame.

No wonder it was so popular.

The high attendance rate and peace within _Yugakure_ made Sasuke's job both worry free and troubling at the same time. Even though the town guaranteed an uneventful stopping point for him on this leg of the mission, the number of people walking about did pose a bit of a problem. He realized just looking on from afar that it'd be really difficult to actually make out two particular characters out of the thousands of villagers wandering the streets.

He recognized this _'Where's Wally'_ factor the moment he found himself standing at the edge of the central marketplace, staring out over the ocean of people crisscrossing the road. Glancing around from stall to stall, above the noise and through the masses, his eyes took careful note of his surroundings.

Let's take a moment for an assessment check. Sasuke wore a white, long-sleeved robe with dark pants, sandals and, just like most of Orochimaru's other subordinates, had a purple rope worn securely around his waist. Now, while this was an unusual outfit easily distinguishable against most other uniforms worn in the shinobi forces, next to the bright and colorful kimonos, ceremonial gowns, and formal dress wear adorned by the multitude of distinguished representatives, suits and villagers walking about, it became quite obvious to the Uchiha…

In this crowd of wild colors and costumes, the young teenager blended in like a leaf in a forest.

By extension, any Akatsuki shinobi wearing their organization's badge of membership would definitely be able to move around this entire village without encountering any problems or attracting any attention to themselves.

Ignoring the people bumping into him and moving aside to make way for a delegate being transported through the crowds in a norimono, Sasuke glared around him a second time. In spite of all his patience, this was surprisingly becoming quite a frustrating chore.

"_The information Kabuto provided says that two Akatsuki members are moving down from the Land of Frost and heading towards the Land of Fire… probably on route for Konohagakure or the Daimyo's Palace in the capital,"_ Sasuke thought to himself, reaching into his shirt and unfurling the scroll he was carrying. Taking another glance at the specs, he then turned his gaze to the route ahead of him._ "I'm positive that they'll be passing through here before moving on."_

The Uchiha chose this village for a reason not just because it was a popular destination for travelers looking to settle down for a breather on long journeys, but it was also swimming with targets. The delegate being moved through the throngs of civilians in his man-powered carriage only moments before proved his point.

There were a lot of high profile heads here, none of them making any real effort to conceal themselves from the public. Based on Akatsuki activities as of late, there has been a consistent streak of attacks focused on village leaders and officers. It was practically a shooting field out here as well as a large vacation resort, since this village was practically playing host to a lot of the above mentioned classes. Though incidents have rarely occurred out here due to the multitude of eyes and the level of protection, Sasuke was betting on his target's boldness to come through.

Kabuto had also kindly provided the hunter with a possible target that Akatsuki was likely to go after out here, one that was currently outside of the safety of his home village. The young Kage from _Takigakure_, Shibuki, was in town on official business, along with a platoon of shinobi and their village's jinchuriki. If _Otogakure_ was able to get a hold of this information then Sasuke wasn't putting it past Akatsuki to miss out on a glaring opportunity like this either.

Rumor has it that the organization was after jinchuriki, individuals carrying entities with massive amounts of chakra sealed inside of them. So, putting together everything he knew thus far, a jinchuriki and a Kage from the same village, out in the open, under light guard and in a land far beyond their own, was therefore just too good of a target to pass up.

"_They must have been outside of the village way before any news of the attacks on the other Kage could have reached them,"_ Sasuke thought, squeezing in between a couple making their way across from one stall to another. _"However, if information of Akatsuki was able to make it out here at least, then chances are they've already called for more back up, confined themselves within their quarters or are carrying on with business as usual."_

Sasuke remembered helping the Kage of _Takigakure_ out many years ago. Along with his former squad members of _Team 7,_ he, Naruto and Sakura were able to save both him and his entire village from a band of rogue ninja.

It was then after getting over his cowardice, Shibuki took on a lot of Naruto's more praiseworthy characteristics, transforming him from a sniveling wimp into the ideal Kage. If that evolution said anything more about his personality, then it was certain that the current leader of the hidden village possessed the perfect combination of carefulness and bravery, and was bound to be walking about with an eye over his shoulder and extra guards hiding behind every corner.

Without a doubt it was a challenge. But Sasuke wasn't here hunting Kage; he was after prey that was far bigger.

Weighing up his options, it was easy for the raven haired teen to come to a resolution on which course of action to take. All the Uchiha had to do now was look for a young adult bearing the insignia from _Takigakure_ walking around town with a handful of bodyguards. If there were anymore obstacles other than the group that was bound to be flanking him they'd be hiding out in the shadows, on the lookout for anyone approaching their village leader from a distance.

Summing up his analysis he then made it official; Taki's leader and jinchuriki were the Uchiha's new targets.

It was all a matter of finding Shibuki, a face that Sasuke distantly remembered. But as hazy as his memory was he knew that if he could find him, then Akatsuki would not be too far behind.

"_Shinobi of the homeland should really be more weary of ninja from other countries entering theirs, even with their consent,"_ Sasuke begrudgingly thought to himself after passing another huge group of travelers making a lot of noise. He cleared his ear after that party had gone, taking a moment to step out of the masses and following a separate footpath down the main road, out of harm's reach. _"At least I'd be able to spot __**two**__ groups of shinobi a lot easier when one is following the other."_

It was the simple truth. This crowd was just too damn big.

Stopping in front of a hotel just outside of the markets, Sasuke rubbed his forehead irritably before leaning up against a wall and folding his arms. He glared towards the bazaar, just packed to the rims with laughing civilians. Even standing against this lodge he could see people coming and going endlessly. It was like a thriving metropolis and he was in the middle of rush hour.

"_There must be special offers being given out for this season,"_ Sasuke thought, explaining why the place was so full.

Deciding to wait it out for a bit, the Uchiha stayed away from the river of villagers moving around his line of sight. He tried to enjoy whatever pleasantries he could derive from brooding, merely observing and attempting to block out the rest of the world. It was by the time a few reasonable gaps had formed within the ever-changing throngs flowing in both directions he restarted his search, deciding that he'd better not dawdle when there was only such a small window of opportunity open for him to bag the quarry he was aiming for.

With his head held low and making sure to stay out of sight of any of the _Yugakure_ shinobi on patrol, he weaved through the traffic of pushing and shoving. While maneuvering through this exciting environment his eyes panned from stall, to store, to restaurant and to every group of strangers he could get a good glimpse of, keeping an eye open for any _Takigakure_ insignia.

You needed a target that could help lead you to your main objective to make a search like this work out, or you may as well start looking for ghosts in broad daylight. It wasn't like this was a full proof idea no, but what else could he go on other than the information provided by his less than reputable source. He felt like he was partly shooting in the dark right now.

His search followed a basic pattern, keeping as much to himself as possible while sometimes approaching people with basic questions. He didn't want to arouse any suspicions, but kept his statements short and to the point. When he wasn't pushing through crowds or waiting on the sidelines and watching people go by, he was walking up to stall owners and asking them whether or not they'd served any shinobi that day. He would also ask at the occasional spa about whether they had hosted _Takigakure's_ Kage, but after a couple of hours of searching, all he ever got were head shakes and shrugs.

It almost seemed pointless. Thousands of people were currently on the move and he was only looking for one. If he was able to take to the rooftops it would make his search infinitely simpler, but there was always the risk of getting spotted and pursued. The last thing he wanted to do here was make a scene.

It wasn't in his interests to scare away his targets.

Having walked for over half the day starting from when he first entered the country at sunrise, Sasuke decided that he should sit down for a while and rest. He found a nice quiet bar where he could order some noodles and tea, and enjoyed a nice reprieve from a balcony view.

Whilst he rested his legs, he kept an eye on the crowds, using even his break to try and catch sight of his targets.

The teen had managed to find a good spot overlooking a hot spring resort next to a shrine, with a small stretch of market down below. Though it wasn't as crowded as the main market place, there were still quite a lot of people. At least the noise couldn't reach him up here.

"Hopefully… this area will quiet down into the afternoon," the young man mumbled to himself, fishing around his plate for a chicken and plucking a piece out with his chopsticks. Taking it between his teeth, he smirked to himself in between chews. _"It's not like I'm going to stay… but this village is the perfect setup for a personal safe house…"_

Who knows? It'd probably be worth it.

Taking his time, Sasuke surveyed the area during sips of his tea. He kept this lighthouse surveillance up throughout his entire meal, and by the time he was down to his last cup and an empty plate, he had eaten his fill and was ready to move out again.

While he was in the process of paying his bill to a very friendly waitress who had become quite taken with him, after hours of searching, finally…there was a break in the case.

Sasuke suddenly double-backed on the balcony when he spotted with his hawk-like eyes a young man with brown hair wrapped in a ponytail, and wearing a headband advertised clear across his forehead with insignia clearly aligning him to the hidden village of _Takigakure_.

Dressed in blue with light armor consisting of shoulder pauldrons, side guards, and various leather straps with pouches on either side of his belt, the man looked more like an ordinary shinobi than a notorious Kage. But there was no denying it.

On further inspection the Uchiha saw and recognized that the man he was looking at was none other than Shibuki.

One of the reasons the raven haired boy was able to spot the man exiting the store on the other side of the street so easily was that he was being accompanied by a girl wearing a white midriff shirt, apron skirt, armlets, and fishnet top and shorts, and had a mop of short, mint-green hair on top of her head. She also had a cylindrical object strapped to her back in a red bag.

It was like somebody had set off a beacon right in the middle of the street, the area of which had thinned out enough for Sasuke to catch even a single individual's expression out of many. From his position the Uchiha could clearly see that Shibuki was walking about with a smile on his face and the girl accompanying him seemed just as pleased. Were they a couple? Were they good friends? Who knew?

Watching them stroll down the street for a little ways while followed by a couple of tagalongs assumedly their escorts, who were giving them a bit of berth within the crowds of civilians, Sasuke decided right then and there to take action. Leaving the balcony in haste after depositing the funds in the waitress' hands as well as a courteous smile, he dashed down the stairs and onto the road, nudging himself into a group of people moving with the flow.

"_Finally,"_ the boy thought, peering around the head of a young couple to see Shibuki and his company up ahead, browsing the stalls at a distance. The Uchiha placed himself at an accurate throwing knife position, just so he wasn't spotted by the _Taki_ shinobi moving with the masses as well.

To him, following a target was routine; basic tracking skills. He got plenty of practice doing these kinds of odd jobs for Orochimaru many times in the past.

Attention set, Sasuke hung back behind a stand and peered through the various displayed goods towards his quarry. Taking this slowly, he kept himself well out of sight, at the same time checking the rooftops and crowds for any eyes weary of his movements.

Over the next few minutes and after trailing them for a couple more blocks, things seemed to be going well.

"_Sorry to do this to you Shibuki, but if Akatsuki is really going after village leaders, than I'm going to have to use you as bait to lure them out," _the Uchiha thought with a frown.

Of course, there were no hard feelings involved, at least not in this job. This was purely business.

After watching the Kage and his companion browse the fruit stands, they moved on. The crowd crisscrossed, providing cover for their bodyguards and making conditions extremely difficult for any kind of assassination attempt. The festivities also hid the movements of shinobi belonging to _Takigakure_ jumping around in the shadows between buildings, keeping watch of their target as extend. Only Sasuke, who had considered the possibility of that added guard, was aware of their presence.

The Uchiha followed, mouth shut and eyes open, blending into the various patrons and villagers moving with the crowd.

OOO

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, a shinobi dressed in beige, casual clothes, consisting of a buttoned-up tunic, leather trousers and sandals, was keeping both of his eyes glued onto the village leader he was tasked in guarding. He watched intently as both Shibuki and his village's jinchuriki made their way through the small marketplace back to the hotel that they were staying at just several blocks away. He made sure to stay out of sight of the villagers and to take long pauses on his stops at crucial vantage points. Whenever a large crowd of villagers suddenly poured onto the road, he had to be ready to make his move to rescue the leader if necessary.

Dodging clotheslines and hop scotching a power line onto the next roof, the man hid himself behind a water tank sitting high on top of a restaurant. He saw Shibuki and Fu stop just short of a souvenir stall, and started looking over some of the fabrics and towels being sold over the counter. The man hanging onto the side held his post and narrowed his gaze, looking around at the crowd for any suspicious activities.

At first he thought he saw a person about a hundred yards back duck behind a booth and nonchalantly look over some of the braids and jewelry on sale. However, figuring these to be the actions of a customer taking stock of goods, he dispersed his suspicions and went on to his next point of interest. He shifted his gaze from a woman tending to her crying son, to an elderly couple shuffling incredibly close to his targets.

From laughing children, to lovey-dovey couples, to groups of tourists, this man had a right to be suspicious of everyone. It was his job to be sharp and weary, since he was supposed to be the eyes looking down from up high.

His attention occasionally shifted from the pair under his protection to random civilians moving about abnormally. These various activities he clued onto though were mere slips and stumbles, with the occasional clutter of somebody dropping something. There was nothing too drastic.

After a few minutes of holding ground, things seemed to be going well with nothing alarming to report. However, events were about to take a sudden, drastic turn on his end. He was about to get hit by something he never saw coming.

Just as he was about to change posts, he suddenly felt a shadow loom over his shoulder. Since he was standing on a narrow water tower on the very edge of a railing, he first thought it was a bird coming in to roost. But then when the shadow cast over him became heavy and remained, the man's eyes widened in alarm at a warm breath on his neck and the telltale fluttering of long clothes caught in an up draught.

He spun around, kunai drawn!

"Who goes…?" Were the only words he was able to utter before a hand was slapped over his mouth and his knife arm was grabbed! Immediately upon assault his foot was then kicked off of the narrow space it was wedged into and he lost balance, allowing his attacker to take his weight completely and ram him right into the side of the water tower.

The Taki Chunin's eyes widened in horror when he found his air passages cut off and eyes gazing back into the brown, cold irises of his assailant.

A woman with shocking red, goddess like hair, and a black cloak with red clouds on it trailing on the wind, straddled him against the side of the water tank. The position they were in was impossible, since they had no walkway beneath them or fixture to take weight except for the narrow rim, but the fact was that they were up against the water tower using only their chakra to support them.

Well, the kunoichi mostly. She was the only one putting any effort into fixing herself to a surface. With her feet pressed up against the sides of the metal container, if you were to tip the world over by ninety degrees the attacker would be on top of her victim, who was being held up by his face and arm, and being asphyxiated into submission.

The man thrashed against her grip, attempting to free his mouth and arms, but finding his limbs unfortunately locked up by the girl's advantageous grappling position. Eventually, after some useless kicking and turning, the man's eyes eventually rolled into the back of his head and he passed out. The kunoichi released him when it was safe to do so and his body slid down the side of the water cistern, hitting the roof of the building they were on after a two meter drop.

Still crouching against the tower, the woman in the cloak grinned at the success of the ambush. Slipping a new straw hat with papers streams over her head, she then leapt away, disappearing into an alleyway a whole roof across.

With all the bothersome snipers out of the way, she could finally move on to her next and main objective…

OOO

"Hey, check this out," Fu exclaimed, jumping over to a beautifully decorated dress hanging from a stall rack and gazing at it with a longing smile. "Wow… it's so pretty."

Shibuki, standing directly behind the girl, chuckled in amusement as he watched the kunoichi fawn over the wide variety of clothing on display in front of them. It was after seeing her take in the marvelous stitch work, color and texture, did the jinchuriki then glance over her shoulder and give her Kage a puppy-dog look.

"If you like anything you see Fu, don't hesitate to get it. There's no need to hold back on my account."

It was quite refreshing seeing his companion act this way, since she rarely showed this side to her in such a crowded environment. Though Fu was known to be a really happy-go-lucky sort of person and often lazed about, she mostly kept to herself whilst out in public. However, now that they were all the way out here, away from the confines of their village, she was able to relax and open herself up a little more.

Despite the fact that they were supposed to be here on business to talk trade with the leaders of the _Land of Hot Water_, they were also given time in between conferences to rest, relax and look around. It wasn't that they were abusing their privileges as diplomats; it was just that they were using the recess periods provided to their fullest to look around and see what there was to see. Heck, the Kage didn't want to keep his friend cooped up inside the entire time. Now that he was able to, he wanted to show her the world outside of their home.

Ecstatic at her boss's words, Fu wasted no time in buying the kimono to try out later tonight. Once it was bagged and slung around her arm, she turned and smiled gleefully in Shibuki's direction. "This is great! You can't usually find stuff like this back home!"

The young man chuckled, placing his hands on his hips, "Wait till our next meetings with the leaders of _Konohagakure_ and _Sunagakure_, then I'll really show you around town."

Fu blinked, "Oh? Konoha and Suna? Those are some really big villages…"

"Powerful too, but thankfully we're good friends with them," Shibuki exclaimed, scratching the back of his head while briefly looking away in thought. "Man, now that I think about it I haven't heard from Naruto and the others in a long time. I wonder how they're doing."

"Naruto? You mean that blonde haired kid that saved our village from a bunch of rogue ninja all those years ago?" the jinchuriki asked, earning a curious glance from the young Kage. She grinned and shrugged back, "I ran into him on my last mission to one of the border towns a couple of months ago."

"Eh?" Shibuki jumped, having not expected her to mention or even bring up an encounter with his old associate. "Hang on… you mean back then…?"

Fu nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah. He was out of the village on vacation with his girlfriend to meet up with some old friends in _Sunagakure_… at least that's what he told me." The girl's face turned red with embarrassment and she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, moving out of the way for a couple of tourists checking out the same stall that they were still standing in front of. "He scared the daylights out of me when he first got my attention out on the street because he was wearing some funny looking mask at the time. Good thing he told me that he knew you and just wanted to talk otherwise I would have cut him to shreds."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah," Fu giggled, rubbing her arm bashfully. "Still… I thought he was a really nice guy… quite a good looking fellow too. I could see why that girl he was with was so attached to him. Man…" She grinned again and held a fist up to her Kage to showcase her enthusiasm. "I mean, he was _**so-ooo**_ cool! He told me all about the adventures he'd had and the battles he'd fought a whole other continent away! The guy was just awesome!"

The young village leader stared in astonishment, taking a moment to mentally inquire on Fu's story for himself. He tried to recall some of Naruto's other more notable qualities from what he remembered about the guy, turning away for a brief minute with his hand rubbing his chin.

Sure, a kid who stepped in excrement, made a big deal out of the smallest things, and was loud and wore bright colors. Now, tacking on to what Fu told him in summary, Naruto was now cool, possibly saving other villages from bad guys single-handedly, and had a girlfriend?

That guy who smiled constantly and had excessive amounts of energy actually managed to bag a girlfriend? Really? Something didn't smell right here.

Suspicious, Shibuki gave Fu a disbelieving glance. "What was she like?"

"Huh?"

Clearing his throat, the man started making various odd, shapely gestures in the air in front of him. "I mean, was his girlfriend hot? Did she have some sort of complex? What was her hair color? What was her body shape? Size? Come on!" Right around now he started to look desperate as he leaned further towards the green haired girl, who pulled back quite a ways from the intensity of his stare. "Please, tell me!"

"I… I…" Fu gulped, shaking her head. "W-Why do you want to know all that, Shibuki-sama?"

The man took her by the shoulders, "Come on, Fu! We're talking about a guy who wears orange! I need to know what kind of girl can be interested in someone like him?" Sure he was a great kid, but come on. Even he didn't have a girlfriend yet and he was a damn Kage.

Staring into the man's eyes a few seconds longer, the jinchuriki smiled and looked away with a bit of red on her cheeks. She shuffled nervously, her posture and shoulder shrugs being an indication to her actual feelings on the matter, "Well… _**I**_ thought he was pretty cool. Isn't that good enough of an answer?"

Looking completely shot down, Shibuki released her. Taking on a completely distraught and bewildered expression, the man slapped a hand over his face and ran it down with a dry sigh, "Geez… what on earth is happening to the world. I haven't heard from the guy in ages and he's already made it so far in his career as a shinobi. Was Naruto just born with an insane amount of luck or something?"

While he melted and Fu continued blushing over the image of the guy she had had that little meet up with all that time ago outside of his knowledge, the young Kage made a mental note to pop in one day to see his old friend. He just refused to believe a guy like that could actually get a girlfriend with his odd disposition. Unless something happened to him to change some of his character over the past few years, then he just couldn't see how.

Fu stuck her tongue out at him teasingly, bouncing on her toes in a clear sign that she wanted to keep moving. It was just as things were starting to calm down between them, and Shibuki was regaining his composure that they suddenly heard a strange sound drift in on the wind. Apparently, the crowd around them had also caught onto it, the entire street literally coming to a standstill upon registering to the noise filling their ears. All chatter ceased, allowing everyone within the vicinity to get a bead on its source.

It was the sound of a flute, something that was loud enough to be projected over all of the muttering and excitement of the villagers in the neighborhood. Additionally, people inside of stores and restaurants managed to pick up the abnormality, a waiter stopping short of pouring tea for one of the customers and unintentionally spilling hot water all over the place when the cup overflowed. Heads and eyes whipped left and right, trying to locate the player of the ominous yet beautiful music.

Even Sasuke, hiding amongst a group of people, blinked in surprise and looked around in sheer bewilderment.

"What the heck is that?" the teen mumbled, eyes narrowing on all the alleyways and rooftops in line of his sight. Due to the sheer volume of the track it almost sounded like it was being played off of speakers with incredibly high quality. However, on further investigation, it almost sounded like it was coming off of almost every solid surface.

It felt that way too since the sharp-eyed shinobi could feel the vibrations running up his toes from the ground.

However all of this white noise and background tracks changed in an instant when suddenly the flute music stopped and was replaced with a high-pitched whistle a split second later.

It was almost like the player had purposefully hit the wrong note to the extreme, as every single person in the stretch of market collapsed to their knees or staggered, clutching their ears to block out what could only be described as a sudden pitch in a megaphone exploding right next to them.

People cried out in agony, clutching the sides of their heads and reeling. Sasuke did too, barely able to crack an eye open all account of the air vibrating. Even though his vision wasn't being distorted physically he swore he could literally see sound waves blasting outwards, making everything and everyone look fuzzy.

He fell to his knees after several seconds of an unending chain of sonic waves, a lot of people standing around him doing the same thing. Those excluded from the count that dropped like flies were those with better balance or had managed to grasp the nearest solid fixtures for support.

Eventually, after a full thirty seconds of being overcome by the unbearable, ungodly screech, the whistle just died out. People withering about on the floor groaned out all sorts of nonsense, while at the same time attempting to recover or regain their senses. The world quickly went from unbearable and shaky, to jelly-like and wobbly. Those people still on their feet staggered around like drunks, hands pressed tightly over their ears.

Though the effectiveness of the attack had been wide-range and definitely showed an end result on a massive scale, what people failed to see on a level could definitely be seen from a birds-eye view. The sound waves had actually followed a strict pathway down the road, cutting a gap through the crowds. Those caught up in the center had managed to stumble away, clearing the path for the conjurer and giving her a direct line towards _Takigakure's_ Kage and jinchuriki.

The above two were just like everybody else, coiling in pain and on the ground clutching their ears. It didn't take them too long to readjust though, but when they eventually did and had managed to turn their gazes upwards, they saw a dark, foreboding shadow silhouetted against the sky. Like a stand-off scene with the sunset blazing directly behind the shooter, the perpetrator behind the stunning technique stood directly in the path formed by the parted crowd.

Dressed in a black cloak with red clouds on it, and with a straw hat and strips of paper concealing their identity, the Akatsuki member responsible for harassing Kage and leaders across the entire continent, finally made her appearance.

"_It's her!"_ Sasuke thought, spotting the organization member that was his primary target standing only a few feet away from him. He tried rising to his feet to establish a confrontation, but his legs at this point felt boneless as a result of the sound attack that had rattled his head. As a consequence he collapsed onto all fours when he tried leaping to a stand._ "Dammit! I was too close! I got hit by the worst of it!"_

Shibuki, having been brought to the awareness of the cult of assassins upon arriving at this village, also tried to get to his feet. He knew from intelligence that the people adorning that particular attire were currently after villagers of high social standing and importance, as well as the jinchuriki.

This scenario that he had so precariously fallen into told him only two things from his now disorientated state: that he was a target and so was Fu. He didn't need this handed to him in writing.

As a Kage, his existence was important amongst his villagers and the person that he could see standing above the whimpering crowd was out to take his life.

"Shit!" Shibuki shouted, drawing a kunai and struggling to a stand as quickly as he could.

Fu, still on the ground and holding her ears, followed her village leader's movements with her eyes. She gazed at him when he moved in front of her to block her from view of the assailant, "S-Sir?"

"Stay back, Fu!" the Kage shouted, staggering forward. "I've got this!"

As if the young leader rising to his feet was her cue, the kunoichi sheathed in the cloak threw her arm out. Sword appearing from her sleeve, she sprinted forward in a blur. She covered the distance of a hundred meters in just two seconds, her shadow overcoming the winded Kage by contrast. Shibuki gritted his teeth and stepped into a defensive stance.

The Taki shinobi hiding within the crowd immediately jumped at the sight of the attacker. Though knocked senseless themselves from the music attacks to their ears, they lunged at the charging woman from all sides. A group totaling ten shinobi leapt at the Akatsuki member from her blind spots, striking at her with a variety of weapons from kusarigama to tanto. However, their efforts proved futile when the masked woman, with her curved sword vibrating and producing that loud, metallic hum, cut through them like a tornado through a barn house.

One after another, the defenders were brought down. Their weapons were batted aside effortlessly when they attempted to strike at the individual, the first one being kicked away and back into the crowd. The assailant plowed through three more at once, their weapons shattering and their bodies being thrown all over the place. She carried on without missing a beat, striking down two others and leaping over a seventh, kicking him in the back of the head on her descent and knocking him out. A eighth attempted to subdue her with chains, but she ducked under the whipping weapons and lunged at him from below, coming up under his flailing staff and batting him aside with the backend of her sword, sending him spiraling into the withering and astonished audience.

It was easy to see she wasn't killing them, only removing her attackers from her path. All the same, the remaining two closest to a still recovering Shibuki were met with a roundhouse kick across both their faces when the shockingly quick Akatsuki member spun at them in a twisting motion, and vanquished them with a single hit.

She now had a clear shot at the Taki Kage.

The man bravely held his ground, bringing his kunai into a lowered stance. "You scum! I will not let you harm Fu!" Shibuki roared, charging at the cloaked warrior in spite of his weakened state.

He lashed at the assailant, now completely standing upright, with various strikes from his blade. The man was surprisingly aggressive as well as relentless, his attacks cutting silver arcs through the air from the speed of his lunges. However, as quick and as courageous as his onslaught was, the Akatsuki member merely danced and stepped around his attacks. Using evasive movements that needed no excess bursts whatsoever, the cloaked figure ducked and stepped around each and every strike Shibuki attempted, back-handing him with her sword hand when he overstretched a thrust.

Staggering from the hit, the Kage came back around with another swing, only to be met with a back kick across the face, which sent him spinning to the ground with a heavy thud.

Fu jumped to her feet, her knees buckling and nearly giving way, "Shibuki!"

It was the moment she shouted the Akatsuki member's head snapped in her direction, almost like a velociraptor. The jinchuriki took a stance, facing down the S-Ranked shinobi when she dashed at her instead. With speeds unaccountable, the assassin lunged at the green haired kunoichi with her sword, the blade flashing through the air like lightning.

The biju container responded immediately, lunging back at the girl with an upward strike. Having concealed her hand seconds before, she managed to draw a kunai from her pouch from a dead spot in order to use it to counter against their group's attacker. Her blade cut through the wind in a beautiful arc, intent on slicing through her neck in one go. However, the blade passed right by her intended target when she ducked and instead shredded a portion of her hat, sending splinters flying everywhere.

She missed.

This gave the Akatsuki member the perfect, split-second window of opportunity to spin in and around her. Fu tried to follow but even with her eyes she was overcome by the person's shunshin like agility. A quick blink later and the girl was grabbed by the throat and thrown off of her feet. The Akatsuki member, with the jinchuriki's throat secured in her vice-like grip, spun her around and slammed her right through the stall behind her and into the wall beyond it, the stand exploding into pieces and sending clothes that were on display all over the floor.

Fu gagged, her airway passage being blocked by her attacker now pinning her against the plaster barrier of a hotel building. Choking and struggling to breathe, she cracked open an eye and looked down at the assailant.

She was completely at her mercy.

"W-Who are you…?" Fu writhed, grabbing the person's arm and kicking at the wall, "What do… you want from…me?"

The Akatsuki member said nothing. Instead, with her free hand, the attacker reached up for her hat and turned the torn side around, enough so that Fu could peer through the gap and see their face, even if it was only a bit of it. The right side of their true identity came into view when light fell upon it, and Fu was able to get a good glimpse of the person hiding behind the strips of paper

Jaw dropping, the green haired girl stopped her thrashing and just stared. "Y-You?"

The woman nodded back, at the same time sheathing her sword up her sleeve, warranting a questioning gaze from her victim. Even with the knowledge of the person's identity in her hands the jinchuriki couldn't help but still feel both terrified and confused.

What the heck was going on?

"W-Why?" Fu choked out.

The Akatsuki member leaned forward, placing their head directly next to the still suspended kunoichi. It was then the person whispered something indistinctly to the jinchuriki, out of earshot of everybody else. Although villagers watching couldn't hear what was being said, they could still see the victim's expression change from confused to almost bewildered, and then, after a full minute of listening to her attacker's whispers, to a look that clearly expressed understanding.

Shibuki, scared for his friend's life, rose to his feet, as did most of his stricken bodyguards, a handful of villagers, and on the sidelines Sasuke, who staggered out of view of the commotion. The Uchiha made sure to conceal himself and watched from behind a still standing stall as the Kage from _Takigakure_ quickly approached the pair over by the wall.

Even though he was completely outclassed, he still wanted to save his friend.

"Fu!"

They saw the attacker lean away, and both the jinchuriki and her foe went back to staring at each other. This time Fu was not looking scared, confused or wanting to escape from this person's shadow anymore. Instead, she stared back at the Akatsuki member with a half-smile and gave the person a nod of acknowledgement.

Taking that as acceptance, the masked kunoichi dropped Fu from the wall, grabbed her arm and immediately spun her into an arm lock so that her back was pressed up against her chest. She turned to face the crowd, blocking Shibuki from view, who immediately stopped in his tracks at the sight of his companion being used as a human shield.

When both the Kage and his friend were given a second to look at one another, the masked Akatsuki member brought Fu in close and slammed an elbow into the back of her head and neck, knocking her out instantly. Heaving her up onto her left shoulder, the missing-nin then turned and started walking away.

"NO!" Shibuki shouted, drawing shuriken and tossing them at the person's legs.

Unhampered by the extra wait, the Akatsuki member threw her free hand out and countered the barrage with kunai, the blades clashing at an angle and redirecting all projectiles. It was then when the Kage decided to charge in to make a direct engagement the cloaked figure raised the same arm above her head and threw a cluster of pellets at the ground. A purple cloud of smoke exploded into the air and engulfed them.

The _Takigakure_ leader leapt back, staying out of range of the gas in case it was poison. Desperately, the man watched the clouds lift into the air and remain suspended for several seconds, before fading away and leaving just empty space in front of him. As for the Akatsuki assailant and her quarry, they were nowhere to be seen.

Shocked, Shibuki clenched his fists and marched forward, personally searching the vicinity for any traces of the escapee before rounding on his men. The now recovered Chunin and Jonin scattered around the shaken crowd of villagers stood to attention to their leader's glare, who then pointed at each and every one of them.

"Fan out! Find them! Don't let that person out of this village!"

The group of ten ninja did what was asked of them and immediately leapt off to find the enemy. What they all left behind was a scene of chaos, swaths of disturbed and stricken civilians, and a ruined clothing stand. It was after the three minute clash had ended did shinobi of the home village finally started pouring in to restore order to the scene, and to also provide assistance to the Taki shinobi giving chase to the one responsible for this whole mess.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, having managed to follow the Akatsuki attacker's movements from afar, withdrew into the alleyway to pursue. He was gone in the blink of an eye, just like his _Takigakure_ counterparts.

XXX

Managing to throw the village's leader off her trail and evading the shinobi sent after her completely, the masked Akatsuki member took to the alleyways. Hurdling crossroads and darting across streets so fast that passers thought that they were being hit by a gust of wind, the kidnapper carried herself over a dozen blocks away from the scene that she had created, before eventually slowing down. In order to keep pursuers from following any traces she may have been leaving she distorted the direction of her retreat, doubling back a couple of times while also not following too linear a course out of the neighborhood.

Eventually she found herself in a dark, grubby alleyway surrounded by four-story tall apartment buildings, brick walls and trash cans. The water towers around her also provided some dead spots for her to conduct whatever plans she had next on her list. When she hit the darkest part of the route she was following and had managed to drown out the sounds of any crowds or marketplaces nearby, her sprint slowed to a jog, before eventually slowing to a dead stop.

The cloaked figure peered over her shoulder. Stretching her senses out, she confirmed she was no longer being followed. People tended to make a lot of noise when in a rush or were panicking, and if there was anyone suspicious close by she would have picked up on the acoustics within this narrow corridor of constructs. But after a couple of minutes of listening and searching out for any anomalous vibrations, all she was able to detect was the dripping of water from pipes and the whistling of trains in the station a couple of blocks away.

This was exactly where she wanted to be; closed off and within running distance of the locomotives.

It was the transportation she was most concerned with at the moment, for should her situation suddenly change she needed to know exactly when and where she needed to go in order to make a clean escape.

But of course she had to take care of her extra baggage first.

Gently sitting the unconscious Fu up against a wall, the Akatsuki member pulled her ruined hat off and dumped it in the nearest trash can. After which she then unbuttoned the collar of her cloak, reached in and pulled out a large scroll, which, judging from its size, was wide and lengthy enough to lay an entire person over it.

It was an act that she would perform next upon unfurling it on the damp floor.

Revealing an array of complicated seals inscribed upon the sheet of paper, the red haired assailant then collected the jinchuriki, laid her across and, after making sure she was in the right position and facing the correct nodes, prepared for the final stages of the ritual. Kneeling down on the ground, she held both hands out in front, flipped through several unorthodox hand signs that were not amongst the standard shinobi practices, and finished with both palms hovering open over the body. It almost looked as though she was about to start a healing jutsu.

But instead of healing wounds, the sealing patterns on the scroll fanned out across the ground, activating instantly after the seal pattern was completed.

The ink marks started to glow hot red, lighting up the narrow alleyway and causing an eerie light to engulf everything in sight. It was a good thing she had chosen this spot to go through with this ceremony; otherwise the light would have been spotted an entire block away.

This was her chance.

"You're mine now," Tayuya exclaimed with a smirk, _**"Reverse Summoning Technique!"**_

And that was all that was needed.

Fu's body rose a few inches off of the ground like a puppet on strings, almost like she was being drawn into some heavenly light from above. However, after hovering over the glowing seal patterns for several seconds, her body was then enveloped in a blast of hot, white smoke that seemed to come out of nowhere. The cloud burst out over the entire area and covered the ground in thick fog, before fading away on the wind, revealing nothing but empty air and zero traces of the unconscious victim.

At the conclusion of the technique the seals faded back to their original color and receded, returning to its previous neutral state of safety.

The ritual over, Tayuya rose to her feet and breathed out a sigh of relief. As tiring as it had been, she was ultimately pleased with the results and assured that she had gotten everything she had came to this village to get.

With her job done she flicked her wrist, four kunai flying into her grip and in a single, decisive swipe, tossed them down at the open scroll. The blades impaled and shredded the paper, ensuring that nobody would be able to reclaim the jinchuriki and guaranteeing the success of her mission.

Tayuya grinned, "We will be sure to make some good use of you."

Tugging on her collar, the red haired kunoichi prepared to vacate the scene of the crime. However, just as she was turning heel to make a quick getaway she came to an abrupt and unexpected stop when she picked up something on her radar. Though initially surprised at the detection, she then grinned when she recognized the signature hanging in the air and turned around completely.

Facing the direction of the alleyway she had been following, she found her path blocked by an opposing shadow.

Dressed in white and purple, with his black hair framing his face and hand draped over the sword sheathed behind him, Tayuya found herself confronted by the self-proclaimed avenger Sasuke Uchiha, or otherwise known as Orochimaru's other errand boy.

The red head smirked to herself when her eyes fell upon the familiar face, "Well… isn't this a pleasant surprise."

The young man glared back, attempting to intimidate the kunoichi with his glare and killing intent. Of course, while this would have normally worked against other opponents weak in will and generic in terms of skill, this one didn't even flinch. In fact, she seemed to laugh in the face of his Sharingan when his tomoes spun into view. His blood red eyes narrowed in the dark when both sides faced each other down.

Tayuya didn't back down, choosing to remain where she was in a non-aggressive stance and chuckling to herself when his glare failed to falter. "Geez, exactly how _big_ was the stick that got shoved up your ass? Did I do something wrong to warrant such an unpleasant stare?" She pointed in his direction with a smirk. "If it's a basement problem I strongly recommend Hemorrhoid cream; it'll clear that right up."

Oh, a funny?

The man's eyes twitched at the woman's sarcasm as he stepped forward, not even making the kunoichi twitch in the slightest.

"Intelligence reports says that you guys travel in pairs," Sasuke began, eyes glancing around the shadows. "Where's your partner?"

Straight to the point? The guy was all business and not one for useless banter after all. To be honest, it was quite a refreshing change of pace.

Now, while Tayuya was more than happy to answer his questions, she couldn't help but wonder to herself if maybe she should spout a little bit more fiction with her mouth to keep him entertained? Not only would it make things more interesting, but it could also buy her a little bit more time till her train was scheduled to leave the station.

"He's taken a leave of absence," the red head exclaimed, bringing her hands back down to her sides, "Sandcastle building competition in _Sunagakure_. You should have seen his _Hokage Monument_ presentation." She whistled with a shake of her head, "Damn that end result was spectacular."

The raven haired teen huffed, adjusting his hand position of draping to gripping his sword's handle. "You're a really funny woman. Though I won't penalize you on that, it looks as though I'll need to change my approach if I'm going to start getting any serious answers from you." His gaze hardened as his sword clicked out of its sheath, the base of the blade flashing into view. "Next question; where's Itachi Uchiha?"

Tayuya shrugged, "I'm sorry to say that the two of us don't get along very well. We have a very… _tense_ working relationship, so communication is sort of strained." She tilted her head in the boy's direction, still wearing that teasing smirk and sporting an inquisitive, raised eyebrow. "Although… I might happen to know where you can find him, and I'll be more than happy to tell you… for the right price."

No fooling around on her part. She made a cash gesture by rubbing her fingers together in front of her. "A girl's got to make a living, yah know?"

"Irrelevant," Sasuke replied sharply. His pupils dilated and the tomoes circling them spun like a saw blade, indicating the activation of his doejutsu technique. His killing intent skyrocketed in one second flat, "I won't ask you again. Tell me where I can find Itachi Uchiha." The volume in his voice escalated along with his aggression, his manner switching instantly from cool and collected, to impatient and demanding.

Tayuya felt herself get hit by the genjutsu hurled from the boy's eyes. She reeled back in shock, a sight that told the Uchiha that his casting and aim was spot on as usual. He relaxed his shoulders and his stance with the knowledge that he'd gotten her, and had a good enough hold over her. Any information he wanted to know was now bound to come spewing out of her mouth.

He'd planned it all out in his head; after he got what he wanted, he could then complete his mission, kill her, and head off to find his next target.

However, much to his utter astonishment, the girl whose head had snapped straight into the air after getting hit dead on by his most potent genjutsu had started to shake with laughter. That chuckling only continued on when the caster backed down in surprise, turning a very worrisome scene into an intense one. Eventually, seconds of amused hollering later, the kunoichi returned to staring at him with a hard, unblinking gaze.

What the hell? She got hit by a jutsu that should have brought her mentality to a stop. Technically she shouldn't even be conscious right now, but there she was, smirking as though she had just sold something that was essentially nothing for a high price.

Feeling his technique fail outright and dissipate with the return of her smile, the Uchiha tried again. However, the moment his chakra passed through the air and hit the girl or attempted to anyway, it bounced off of her in the form of a tangible ripple cutting through the air, like a pebble was dropped from an elevated position into still water. The barrier looked like fog parting in a gust of wind, which was the main visual affect of his doejutsu's illusion being completely nullified.

The teen blinked in surprise, "That's new…"

Tayuya grinned at him, "_**Fundamental Resonance 30**_. Fascinating."

Now either Sasuke was getting drunk off of an inconceivable pheromone hanging in the air or his opponent was starting to visibly glow through his abnormally sharp eyes. This mild illumination however wasn't chakra becoming visible, which would have been impossible unless she had an unimaginable well of it on her person. It was in fact the surface of her body vibrating on account of her metaphysical prowess. Regrettably, the teenager was unable to see the flow of chakra through her body due to the invisible barrier she had erected, which was currently distorting the visual capabilities of his Sharingan.

Tayuya giggled, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "Using my chakra I can emit low to high level acoustic frequencies from my body in a form of sonar. By adjusting the resonance value I can dispel any environmental changes. Hence, genjutsu is rendered useless against me."

This information had Sasuke frown and quickly shift to Option C without a second thought, completely drawing his sword from his sheath. Spinning it, he caught it in a forward-facing grip and tightened his glare for engagement. If he couldn't get her to answer through a conventional, verbal approach, intimidate her with killing intent or shake her down with illusions, then he was just going to have to force her to talk by way of physical negotiations. It was one other skill he was extremely confident about.

However, before he could move forward with his next plan he was suddenly let on to another interesting fact, which only occurred to him when he was able to get a better look at her face. Having not focused on this from the get-go, figuring her to be simple canon-fodder within one of the most powerful groups in the shinobi world and dismissing her completely because of that thought, he was now starting to take in his opponent from different angles more considerably.

After a quick look over and a photo lineup of her face against people he had met before in the past, the Uchiha then recoiled in shock when _her_ face finally registered to him, "Y-You… aren't you…?"

Tayuya chuckled, "Figured it out?"

Sasuke's frown deepened and his blade flashed when he flexed his wrist, "_**You're**_ supposed to be dead."

"Ugh… don't remind me. That was the worst escort job I ever had to take part in and… hell, I didn't even get paid for it," the girl complained, shaking her head. She placed her hands on her hips and allowed a sigh to escape her lips, "It wasn't like we were going to get rewarded for it anyway. The four of us had a really stingy boss after all." Letting the bad memories float right on by, the girl smirked back up at the raven haired teen. "What about you? Is your life insurance covered? And how are my old pals the pedophile and the bitch doing, it's been years since I last saw either one of them. I bet they've worn each other's assholes raw… and yours too if you were unlucky enough." She then snapped her fingers and grinned in his direction. "Hey! That explains that stick up your ass."

God did it feel good to bash on her former managers.

Not letting her cleverly orchestrated words get to him, the boy began walking toward her straight down the alleyway. His blade scraped against the wall and caused sparks to sprinkle along the ground, marking his path. "I can see your vulgar mouth hasn't changed one bit. Perhaps I can alter its tone to a more satisfying level once I begin questioning you on the whereabouts of my brother more thoroughly."

His pace picked up, a sight that had the kunoichi return her hands to her sides. "Unfortunately I don't have time to be playing paddy cake with you today, Tinker Bell. I have a schedule to keep and I don't like being late," Tayuya exclaimed, taking a step back.

The raven haired teen saw her back down and, knowing she was going to try another escape, exploded into a dash. His bolting speed matched that of his current opponent's from her earlier assault on Taki's troop, "Book your times an hour earlier!"

Tayuya didn't need telling twice. This space was her advantage and she was going to use it to her utmost.

Her right hand shot out of her sleeve and began vibrating an abnormal glow again. In a swift, backhanded motion a shockwave with no human audible recognition exploded off of her palm and rippled down the alleyway. The invisible wave hit Sasuke head long and, though it shouldn't have had any physical repercussions, it did manage to stagger him backwards. A split second later his body registered to the effects of the technique and he shuddered to a complete stop.

Dropping his sword with a clatter, the boy slapped his hands over his ears and cried out in pain. His eyes widening considerably and sweat almost instantaneously beginning to pour from his brow he collapsed to his knees in anguish. His groans matched his actions as his world visibly distorted from vibrations that simply engulfed the surrounding area.

The main effect however was, not the physical trauma his muscles were experiencing or the fact that a high, piercing screech was invading his ear passages, but it was the attack to his mentality. His mind was spinning inside of a vortex filled with feelings of sorrow. He was literally convulsing with an overflow of angst, traumatic memories being brought up of his family being slaughtered by his brother, his first time facing killing intent from both Zabuza and Orochimaru, his near death experience against Haku, and his entire time spent bound inside of Tsukuyomi. They were all coming back to him all at once and amplified by the technique being used against him.

"W-What…" He tried to speak up above the screeching and chaos invading his head. In spite of his efforts to regain control though, he still fell forward onto hands and knees, and puked his guts out. It was a humiliating sight yes, but he couldn't help it. He was in so much pain that he lost all control over his bodily functions. "What the hell is this?"

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Tayuya exclaimed, watching the boy writhe several feet away from her. "Humans perceive sound only within twenty kilohertz and twenty hertz frequencies. However, I can manipulate both ultrasonic and infrasonic sounds that are outside the audible range, levels that ordinary people cannot hear or recognize but their bodies are compelled to react, no matter the circumstances."

Sasuke glared up, drool running down from the corner of his lip as he quivered. Through a blurry vision, he locked onto his target standing a safe distance away, wanting nothing more than to stop this godforsaken jutsu racking his body. With a shaky hand he reached out and grabbed the handle of his sword, tightening his grip around it as he pulled it back towards him.

When Tayuya saw his Sharingan fade in and out of activation, she smirked. She knew that the boy was now having insane amounts of trouble stabilizing his chakra circulation, a side effect of a direct assault to his ears using sound waves. As long as she kept him within range his eye jutsu won't be able to affect her, not that it would work on her in the first place. It was just one of the many fail safes she had developed when creating her unorthodox techniques for infiltration and combat.

"The Sharingan cannot break this technique because it directly attacks the human temperament," Tayuya explained, running a hand through her hair and placing it behind her ear, as if listening out for a sound that wasn't there. "I did heaps of research on this over the years in my efforts to develop an adequate countermeasure against jutsu that rely on direct force and subtlety by producing an attack that was both invisible and indirect. What do you suppose happens to somebody who hears this type of music? It's actually quite marvelous. The _ultrasonic_ sounds promote anger, whereas _subsonic_ sounds cause anxiety. Only people with a flexible character can withstand this kind of assault, but I've accounted for that weakness as well. It's all a part of the musical piece I've been composing called _**The Silent Song of Nightmare**_."

"Y-You bitch!" Sasuke spat, rising to his knees despite the surface he was on being all wobbly.

It was like music to her ears. This was exactly what the kunoichi wanted to hear from her opponent. The information she was able to absorb from him was all that she needed to ascertain the theories she had collected and summarize her findings perfectly. "Even the most steadfast of shinobi are affected by these sounds. Good. That means my song has finally been completed." Flicking her right hand out her sword flew into her grip. Blade flashing into view, she dropped into a crouching stance. "Now, it's time for me to go. You'd best stay out of my way."

"N-No!" Sasuke shouted, rising to his feet shakily. "Not until you've answered my questions!"

The red head was done talking. Rushing forward with great speed, she was soon upon the disoriented teenager, her blade carving impressive hooks through the air. Evading and dodging inside of the limited space, the Uchiha attempted to keep pace of her in his vibrating environment, but because he was hampered by anxiety aftereffects shaking him down, he wasn't able to keep up his retreat for long.

Dropping back several feet, he brought his sword up and blocked a strike, sparks flying as a result. He then ducked in with a swing to throw her off, but she nailed his forward leg with a roundhouse kick, followed by one aimed high, smacking him in the side of the face. The boy slammed into the wall next to him, using it as support before leaping off of it. Gritting his teeth, he lunged in a stabbing motion with his blade in a two-handed grip, but the kunoichi spun on the spot and kicked across his face, sending him tumbling back and rolling across the ground.

Blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, Sasuke leapt onto all fours, sliding as his momentum from taking the kick receded. Once he grounded himself to a stop, he quickly formed hand seals for his next technique and slammed both hands into the wall next to him. He gritted his teeth as he took aim, electricity beginning to shoot down his arms.

"_**Chidori Nagashi!"**_ (Chidori Stream)

Lightning exploded from his palms, a massive, crackling current streaming down the wall and cutting its way towards the red haired assailant. Rubble burst outwards as the surface splintered and blasted outwards, electricity jumping across to the other side as it traveled down his line of intent at incredible speed.

Of course, Tayuya had anticipated a move to be executed from mid-range. Slapping both hands together, she then slammed them into the wall just as her opponent did, a ripple exploding outwards from where she hit.

"_**Shōgekiha!"**_ (Shock Wave)

Her attack ripped through the wall and caused a multitude of debris explosions as the ripples fanned out. The attack ran head long into the _Chidori Stream_ coming straight for her, the two colliding and causing an even bigger explosion right in the center of the battle zone. Fire and rubble blasted outwards, sending hot wind down the alleyway toward both ends and scolding the two shinobi. Tayuya shielded herself from the aftershock as it reverberated in all directions, glaring through the thick of it to where she knew her opponent was also taking punishment.

However, the moment the winds and shock waves died down, Tayuya's eyes suddenly shot upwards when she saw her opponent leap out of the cloud of hot dust.

Leaping across from windowsill to windowsill as he ascended, the Uchiha acted quickly to get away from the confined space that was their battleground. Deciding that a higher elevation was his best bet and that he could get a better angle over his opponent, the young man stopped at the third story window and swung around, extending his right hand and taking aim at the Akatsuki member down below.

"_Her sound techniques are amplified in a narrow corridor! She has an advantage in this space,"_ Sasuke thought, electricity beginning to crackle around his fingers._ "I'll have a much better chance of taking her on in open space!"_ Intense energy beginning to course along his arm, he threw his hand forward and shouted, _**"Chidori Nagashi!"**_

Lightning shot out of his hand and rained down on top of the kunoichi. Bolts struck the surrounding walls on all sides, tearing through bricks, and sending rubble and debris cascading down on top of the woman.

Though surprised that the boy was able to execute two lightning techniques in such a short amount of time, Tayuya maintained her cool as well as her position. It wasn't like she'd never seen stamina or faced down raw power like his before. On the contrary, she's been living with it for around three years now.

Grinning widely, the girl dropped into a crouching stance as lightning shot down towards her. Spinning her blade, she held it out and took aim.

"Bring it!"

OOO

The neighborhood near the train station quickly erupted into pandemonium when the alleyway where Sasuke and Tayuya were fighting went up in smoke, literally. A fiery explosion rocketed into the air, blanketing the area with soot and debris. The cause of the blast followed seconds afterwards and landed on a rooftop several meters away from the bellowing causeway.

The Uchiha's glare fixed on the gap where he figured his opponent was deep fried. However, with the skills she'd already displayed to him, he highly doubted that the kunoichi would simply roll over and die from an attack like that.

His hunch was right on the mark.

Upon rising to his feet, he saw a shadow stroll out of the pillar of smoke. Dusting crumbs of brick off of her shoulders, Tayuya made her casual, dramatic appearance from the heart of the storm, tossing her head around and throwing dust out of her hair. She smirked when her eyes fell back onto her opponent.

"That was good. You've definitely gotten stronger over these past few years, brat," Tayuya stated, grinning widely at her stone-faced attacker. "In terms of decisiveness and jutsu, factoring out my ability to neutralize opponents' chakra, you and I may be exactly the same strength. However, at this point in time, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to last even five minutes against my partner, let alone Itachi."

"That much is clear," Sasuke acknowledged, watching the kunoichi begin circling around on the building, moving to his left. "However, there are no 'what ifs' in battle. It's either kill or be killed. I'm not going to fall for any more of your tricks."

Tayuya chuckled, "True enough. But even if you knew all of my secrets you still wouldn't be able to beat me. My teammates and I have been training our asses off to kill shinobi, particularly those with optical capabilities above our own." She stopped, holding her curved sword out and leveling it with her shoulder. Her grin disappeared and her eyebrows narrowed, transforming her once conniving looking expression into a serious one. "As much as I'd like to beat you down myself, I'm afraid I made a promise to my partner to keep you around. It's a promise I intend to keep."

"Like I'm going to give you a chance to get away from me," Sasuke stated, drawing his own sword and bringing his Sharingan to bear on his opponent. Though he couldn't see past the field of chakra she had floating around her, he knew he would still be able to follow her, no matter how fast she went. "You have answers I want. So before completing my mission, I'm going to get you to sing for me."

Tayuya sighed, shaking her head, "You two are exactly the same, stubborn like mules."

Sasuke exploded into action, sprinting down the roof and charging at his opponent. He lunged with his blade first, the flashing streak through the air advertising his movements. Tayuya dodged around his attack, slicing out with her own blade and meeting his in a deadly clash.

Redirecting his first few strikes, the kunoichi danced around him gracefully, having to put more effort into her movements due to them being roughly about the same speed and agility. However, while Sasuke was more direct and precise, Tayuya was more graceful and fluent.

Much like her absent partner, she chose to use more flourishing techniques through superior movement, spinning and flipping when she fought. This was exactly what she did when she met the more kenjutsu disciplined blade of Sasuke's, who kept his movements confined to basic slashing and striking attacks from a firm stance.

Sparks flew as the opponents clashed, circling each other on the roof, retreating and attacking whenever openings presented themselves. However, no matter how hard they tried, they either couldn't break their target's defenses or touch them due to their evasive behavior.

Using acrobatics Sasuke had never seen before, Tayuya flipped over her opponent, striking downwards in a spinning motion at the same time. The Uchiha brought his sword up and blocked, his Sharingan working their magic and keeping him in tune with his opponents maneuvers. He still had to work even harder to keep up with her, since she was much faster than any shinobi he'd ever faced before. The girl was just all over the place.

Landing behind the raven haired boy, Tayuya circled him, changing directions sharply and coming at him from his right with a backhanded slash. Sasuke met her blade with a forward slash in a reverse grip, their blades intercepting and sparking when they slammed into one another. Using his momentum to her advantage, the kunoichi barrel rolled under his blade when it passed over as their swords crossed, coming to crouch behind him. She then lunged with the back of her right shoulder into his.

Sasuke turned to his right to meet her, but their backs ended up crashing into each other and they span in the same clockwise direction.

Managing to get behind her opponent, Tayuya pushed off of him when the Uchiha spun to face her on a reverse, slashing out diagonally. His blade missed, and the kunoichi tumbled across the ground away from him. When she got onto all fours and faced him down like a cat ready to pounce, Sasuke lunged at her with a conventional upward slashing motion. The girl leapt off of the floor at the same time, spinning through the air over his left shoulder and following the path ahead of his blade. She slashed at him when she spun, the boy ducking just in time to avoid but getting a grazed haircut in the process.

He spun and she twirled when she landed on tiptoes, their blades slashing across and intercepting once again. Sparks flew when swords crossed, and the two began lashing out at each other with their particular styles. Eventually, after parrying each other and throwing themselves back, the two circled in an anti-clockwise motion, coming back in with another slash. Their blades met and sparks exploded, the two grappling with one another and putting the full weight of their bodies behind their weapons.

Sasuke and Tayuya clenched their teeth and locked eyes, frustration and sheer grit pushing them on.

Both hands on his chokuto, one on the handle and one on the back of his blade, the Uchiha's eyes narrowed, at the same time as he focused his chakra. Almost instantaneously, lightning began coursing up and down his blade, enhancing its cutting power and the force being put behind it. The katana pressed into the curved sword of his opponent, intent on slicing through it to finish his foe in one go.

"_**Chidori!"**_

Tayuya smirked, feeling her foothold slide back several feet before bumping up her own swordsmanship abilities. The situation was getting hairy. She needed to shift the fight back in her favor before Sasuke sliced through her sword and through her.

Applying her chakra to her sword just as he did, her blade began vibrating at an intense rate, a metallic hum filling the air and drowning out the thousand chirping birds made by the Chidori enhanced katana. Both their energy sheathed weapons ground against one another, with the atmosphere soon starting to burn at the friction being produced by the two shinobi grappling dangerously.

"_**Kyōmei fifuti,"**_ (Resonance Value 50) Tayuya shouted, the hum of her blade suddenly increasing in volume before exploding outwards in the form of an invisible ripple that encompassed the entire area. Sasuke was hit by the wave head first, but when it seemed to have no physical affects other than making him flinch, his lightning covered blade suddenly dissipated.

Seconds later, his chakra failed him completely.

Jumping in shock, the Uchiha leapt away just as the girl's vibrating blade cut through the air after forcing itself through his now deteriorated guard, nearly slicing his katana into two. Taking up position several meters away, the boy stared through widened eyes at his opponent, who continued to hold her ground unhampered.

The boy was shocked for two reasons. One was that the moment he was hit by what he felt and first thought of as wind, he felt his chakra levels fluctuate before plummeting. The other sensation he felt was his Sharingan lose their focus before going out altogether, his eyes turning back to their usual shade of charcoal. He physically rubbed them with his fingers when he could no longer see chakra in colors, and shook his head to try and clear his mentality.

The damn ringing noise in his ears was starting to give him a headache.

Opening them up and blinking away the blur, he tried to activate his Sharingan for a second time. However, the moment his eyes flashed red and his tomoe reappeared, they faded back to black. His inability to muster his signature doejutsu stunned the boy beyond belief and he looked down at his hands in a panic.

"What's going on?"

Tayuya backed off, smirking as she watched her opponent wallow about in confusion a safe distance away. Though she could take advantage of his anxiety, she thought it best not to. The boy was as alert as she was in situations like this, even when emotionally stricken. This she learned after watching him shrug off her _**Silent Song of Nightmare**_ composition only minutes before.

"I used that technique to mess with the Raikage's head," Tayuya exclaimed, seeing the Uchiha turn to face her. Confusion continued to plague his expression as she went on with her explanations, "Sound is generated through vibrations. By using my chakra, I can emit varying levels of ultrasonic and subsonic ambiance from my body, and not just through my weapons and musical instruments. Like I said before, by adjusting the resonance value I can effectively dispel any environmental abnormalities."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, _"Dammit… I've never even heard of this stuff before, not even after years of being in that shithole of a village. Where in the hell did she learn to manipulate chakra like that?"_ The boy brought his sword back up and took it in a two-handed grip, his blade clicking as he adjusted the position next to him. _"We may be equals in terms of taijutsu and ninjutsu prowess, but with those damned techniques of hers she has an instant advantage over any opponent she encounters."_

She definitely was an Akatsuki member. Her skills were otherworldly.

The kunoichi turned heel, facing the boy side-on. "You'd better call it quits here, brat. I've been training for years for the ability to beat opponents much stronger than you. I'm going to say this right now, you're not going to like where I'm heading next…" She turned her back on him, a sight that stunned the Uchiha.

Nobody, not even high ranking shinobi he'd faced in the past had the guts or even the disrespect to turn their back on him. However, this girl had enough confidence in her ability to handle him to disregard him so completely.

She smirked at the boy over her shoulder, "Of course, you're welcome to follow me at your own risk."

The teen remained silent, choosing to glare at his target who stared back unafraid and unmoving. Eventually, after several seconds of glaring at one another, the sound of a locomotive and its carriages leaving the station echoed throughout the neighborhood in the form of a whistle. That whistle and the series following after that was the signal the kunoichi was waiting for, and with a final grin directed at her opponent, sprinted off across the rooftops.

Sasuke flicked his wrist, shuriken shooting into his fingers. He dropped into a stance and aimed to take the woman down now that her back was turned to him.

Of course, while he normally would have taken advantage of an opportunity like this any other day, he quickly thought against that idea and lowered his hand, watching as the woman disappeared over the horizon. It would be a full minute later till she arrived at the train station, in which the Uchiha gambled that she would jump aboard the train now departing for wherever it was she was going.

Sheathing his throwing weapons and his sword, the raven haired teen reassumed a normal stance. Glaring across the village towards the train yard where the main boarding facility could be seen standing over all the hotels in sight, Sasuke weighed up the options laid out before him.

Considering he had yet to complete the mission Orochimaru had set out for him on account that he had underestimated that woman's abilities and that they were far more different than he had earlier anticipated, he felt that he should follow after her just so that he could keep an eye out for an opening to take her down. On the other hand, another part told him that he should probably just follow, and wait and see if she would lead him to any other members of Akatsuki, and maybe even Itachi.

She did seem to know about him and there was also a good chance that she might genuinely answer his questions. However, this was in doubt since she was not only fast, confident and enigmatic, but she was also stubborn. Sasuke never expected that a former subordinate of Orochimaru could get so powerful in the same amount of time he'd had to substantially increase his own abilities.

And that was another thing. After the seemingly one-sided fight he'd just had, counting up the score, the teen began wondering whether or not he was actually strong enough to tackle Itachi and carry out his ultimate goal.

Would he be able to beat his brother with his now accumulated skills, or would he fail like last time and end up stomping around in yet another pit of despair and disappointment.

These were questions that had doors to infinite possibilities, yet were also incredibly daunting and bleak, no matter which way he chose to approach it.

Upon reflection, with his eyes darting left and right trying to decide on an appropriate course of action, Sasuke than glared back towards the train station. The reason he'd been able to progress so far was because he persevered, using whatever resources he had at his disposal, including Orochimaru, drugs and grit to get where he was going. Sure, most of these were cheat codes to more power, but all of that was necessary from him in the long run. He also knew that collaboration opened up more doors for continued improvement, and this girl was strong… really strong.

As expected of a member of Akatsuki, she was unbelievably powerful. Perhaps if he followed her he would be able to think up a strategy to beat Itachi. Then again… there was the chance she could kill him before he even had a chance to approach her and interrogate her again. It was within her power after all.

"Hmph… screw it," Sasuke mumbled, sprinting off after the kunoichi.

The train may have already left the station and the village, but he was going after her all the same. No way in hell was he going to let this retreat lie. He was going to settle the score, but only after he found out where she was going.

XXX

**Back in the marketplace…**

A crowd had formed up around the disaster zone where the fight between Taki forces and an Akatsuki assailant had occurred not too long ago. Shinobi belonging to _Yugakure_ kept the villagers back as they searched the area and questioned _Takigakure's_ leader and witnesses on what had transpired. Shibuki was impatient and stressed out, routinely conferring with his associates coming in and out of the area on the progress of their search for Fu and her kidnapper.

It took a while, but eventually shinobi from Taki reported back that they had just watched a kunoichi wearing the garb that Shibuki had described boarding a train for the countries to the west. Not knowing where she was going, the Kage then ordered the bodyguards he had on hand to send out notices to be on the lookout for Akatsuki members traveling by train, and to search for one possibly carrying a girl with green hair with her.

He only hoped that Fu was alright.

It truly was a hairy situation and one that was drawing a lot of attention. The sight definitely caught the eyes of a particular team of _Kumogakure_ ninja that were currently out of their village on a mission to the boarder countries to the south.

Karui grumbled impatiently as she and Omoi stood outside of the rabble surrounding the crime scene, tapping her foot to physically convey her annoyance. "Damn Akatsuki… they're really starting to get on my nerves."

"Even though this was their first successful annexation of a jinchuriki and shouldn't be something for _you_ in particular to be worrying about?" Omoi asked, giving the girl a skeptical look. However, he then looked ahead of him with worry, taking his chin between his finger and thumb, "But then again… what if this isn't their first successful catch? What if they've already gone and captured Yugito and Bee-sama while we were out of the village? W-What if more jinchuriki have been captured, and the hidden villages are now declaring war on each other? Kami… think of the consequences that will befall Kumo if…"

"Oh, SHUT UP ALREADY!" Karui shouted, grabbing the boy by the collar, lifting him off of his feet and shaking him like a ragdoll. "I'm so sick of listening to you bitch, Omoi!"

"Knock it off you two," a new voice spoke up, silencing the bickering pair. Karui released her partner, the two of them looking towards the crowd to see their blonde haired, well-endowed teammate Samui marching toward them. With her stoic, collected expression in play, she frowned in her teammate's direction. "If you haven't already forgotten, we're still on a mission to catch the Akatsuki member that attacked A-sama. Try to keep the noise level to a minimum."

Karui huffed and looked away, folding her arms. Her teammate however, in spite of the brain rattling, managed to hold himself up and acknowledge his team leader with a nod, "Well… what have we got?"

The blonde haired kunoichi looked off down the road, eyes glaring towards the district where the train yard was located. "The shinobi in the area are saying that the offender has fled onboard a train bound for _Sunagakure_. My guess is that she'll jump ship somewhere along the tracks to throw people off her scent, most likely at a point where the train will have to slow down to make a difficult climb or turn."

Taking in this information, Karui sighed and glanced round at her comrades, "So… based on what you're saying to us…"

"Yeah," Samui answered, bringing her hand up and rubbing her neck, "Pack your bags guys; we're going on a train ride. Damn… what a pain." Her shoulders and muscles were killing her from traveling all day. She was hoping to catch some relaxation time while they were still here in the most popular hot spring village in all the shinobi nations. Unfortunately, missions came first, and their mission was taking them out of the village and most likely out of the country.

If they were lucky, they'd be able to stop by here on the way back home after their job was done.

Figuring it was healthier to not dawn over the cons and to focus on the pros, Samui took the initiative and began leading her team away from the scene. Following the road towards the train station, the team from Kumo began making plans on where they should proceed from here, as well as a strategy if they were to come across their troublesome target. After all, they were dealing with a person who could subdue an entire neighborhood using music.

Now while this sounded kind of farfetched, it wasn't exactly how this group saw it as. Upon listening to their leader's details of the attack, this opponent they were going after was no amateur. She was dangerous.

"When I catch that girl," Karui growled, slamming her fists together, "I'm going to turn her into mincemeat."

"Well… let's just hope she'll go easy on us," Omoi commented, looking ahead with a thoughtful gaze. "There's a good chance she might if she underestimates us. Then again… maybe she won't give us that chance. Perhaps she'll catch wind of our intent and kill us on the spot. Could we try and snuff her out in her sleep instead of trying to catch her… I mean, we are dealing with an S-Class opponent after all. Things might get hairy if we find out where she's…"

"Omoi, I swear if you don't shut up right now, I will beat you to within an inch of your life!" Karui growled.

The passive individual with the lollypop in his mouth leaned away from her extended fist. "Come on, it's not like things are going to work out perfectly. Shit like this happens all the time. It's better to keep an open mind when out on missions rather than staying fixed on a narrow…"

"Stop! Now!"

"…track. A good shinobi is a flexible shinobi, that's what mum always used to say. Leave no stone unturned. You have to take everything into account, since everything is essential, like where the enemy could be hiding, the condition of the intelligence being retrieved, weighing the value of the mission with the lives of your comrades. All of that makes you think, like, for example, if you were put into the shoes of your targets…"

"THAT'S IT!" _**Smack!**_

Samui sighed when her squad mates threw themselves into another spat. From that point onwards, for the team leader, it was all a matter of trying to block out the unwanted noises and focusing on staying the course.

While they passed through the markets en route for their next destination the kunoichi couldn't help but think to herself how she ever wound up on a team with the most impossible and intolerable pair in the world. What kind of sane person allowed these two ridiculous opposites to graduate?

If things kept on going the way they were she was sure to be getting severe back problems in sight of the following year.

"Geez… why me?"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Damn this took a while. Anyway, Tayuya has captured Fu, is off on some quest, and both Sasuke and Team Samui are following her.

Now, a couple of points. Tayuya and Sasuke are the same strength, with Sasuke not quite yet at the level as he was in canon, this being several months too early. Their fight basically showcased their current level of skills, and Tayuya's ability to use sound to effectively cancel out chakra is what makes her strong.

Tayuya is not God-like or overpowered because of incredibly destructive jutsu, she's got an advantage over others because she uses smart, subtle jutsu that takes out everybody's else's' advantages. I was inspired to create these techniques for her from watching **Read or Die The TV** when the Paper Sisters were invading that castle. She's gotten really skilled at using music.

She's obviously strong in taijutsu from learning from Naruto.

At this point, Tayuya and Sasuke are the same strength as Asuma, Yamato or Kakashi. I'm not sure about Naruto. I think he's just below Guren's or Bee's level, and below Jiraiya and Tsunade's.

Well, things are starting to heat up, and I'm looking forward to the next chapters.


End file.
